Arizona holds No. 1 spot over Michigan by single point in one of the closest AP Top 25 races ever
Jan 5, 2026, 10:01 AM
Arizona guard Brayden Burries passes during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Utah, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Tyler Tate)
Arizona held on to No. 1 by a single point over fast-closing Michigan in the AP Top 25 on Monday, making it one of the closest races for the top spot in the 78-year history of the men’s college basketball poll.
The Wildcats received 32 of 61 first-place votes and had 1,494 points, while the Wolverines scooped up the other 29 first-place votes from the national media panel. The one-point difference kept the first poll of 2026 from becoming the second ever with a tie for No. 1; Oregon State and Virginia shared the top spot on on Jan. 26, 1981.
Arizona has been on top for the last five polls, but the Wolverines have been able to make up ground, thanks in part to becoming the first team in the poll era to win three consecutive games against ranked opponents by at least 30 points apiece. Michigan was 20 points behind Arizona in the last poll.
“All glory is fleeting, as you guys have heard me say,” Michigan coach Dusty May said after the most recent blowout, 96-66 over then-No. 24 USC, which also kept his team among the six unbeatens left in Division I men’s hoops.
The Wolverines have not been No. 1 since Jan. 28, 2013, and that stint lasted just one week.
The top six remained unchanged Monday from the final poll of 2025: Arizona and Michigan were followed by undefeated Iowa State, UConn, Purdue and Duke, while Houston jumped Gonzaga and BYU and Nebraska rounded out the top 10.
The Huskers, who are riding a nation-best 18-game winning streak dating to last season and are off to the best start in school history, are in the top 10 for the first time since climbing to No. 9 on Feb. 28, 1966. Their latest win was a 58-56 slugfest with then-No. 9 Michigan State.
“Happy for Fred Hoiberg. Not that many years ago, everybody was on his butt,” Spartans coach Tom Izzo said afterward. “He did a hell of a job. Nebraska did a hell of a job. That was probably the best game — their biggest game — in 36 years. They responded.”
Vanderbilt, another program with scant men’s basketball success, remained right behind the Huskers at No. 11. That is the highest the unbeaten Commodores have been since they were No. 7 in the preseason poll for the 2011-12 season.
“SEC play comes at you fast, and now we know the difficulties of this league and what’s ahead of us,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said after Saturday’s win over South Carolina while looking ahead to Tuesday night’s matchup with No. 13 Alabama.
Michigan State fell three spots to No. 12 following its loss to Nebraska, while the Crimson Tide were followed by Texas Tech and Arkansas in this week’s poll. Illinois, North Carolina, Georgia, Iowa and Louisville rounded out the top 20, while Tennessee, Kansas, Virginia, SMU and UCF completed the initial top 25 of the new year.
The Knights, who opened Big 12 play by beating the Jayhawks, are ranked for the first time since March 4, 2019.
“We’re not just playing the opponent in front of us. We’re trying to play to our standards,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “I just want them to go out there and just follow their hearts, play for each other, and I thought they did that.”
Iowa made the biggest move by climbing six spots to No. 19 following its win over UCLA on Saturday, while Georgia jumped five spots to No. 18. Kansas and North Carolina, which lost to SMU on Saturday, each fell five spots but remained in the poll.
No. 24 SMU is ranked for the first time since finishing No. 11 in the final poll of the 2016-17 season. The Mustangs and UCF joined the Top 25 at the expense of USC and Florida, which lost 76-74 to Missouri on Saturday night.
Villanova was the first team outside the Top 25, five points back of UCF. Also on the rise are Utah State and Miami (Ohio), which at 15-0 is the only unbeaten still outside the poll.
The Big 12 led the way with seven ranked teams, including four in the top 10, while the Big Ten had six in the Top 25 and three in the top 10. The ACC and SEC had five ranked teams apiece, and the West Coast and Big East each had one.
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