Men’s college basketball rankings: Projected AP Top 25 after Kentucky outlasts Florida

With the arrival of 2025 comes the start of conference play in earnest. Week 9 was loaded with some elite action and there were some notable statements made, including Kentucky's big win over previously unbeaten Florida to make an early mark in SEC play.

Let's take a look at how the Top 25 should shake out after the first full week of conference play.

Projected AP Top 25 college basketball rankings

1. Tennessee Volunteers
2. Auburn Tigers
3. Iowa State Cyclones
4. Duke Blue Devils
5. Alabama Crimson Tide
6. Marquette Golden Eagles
7. Kentucky Wildcats
8. Florida Gators
9. UConn Huskies
10. Texas A&M Aggies
11. Houston Cougars
12. Kansas Jayhawks
13. Mississippi State Bulldogs
14. Michigan State Spartans
15. Oregon Ducks
16. Oklahoma Sooners
17. Gonzaga Bulldogs
18. Purdue Boilermakers
19. Illinois Fighting Illini
20. West Virginia Mountaineers
21. Memphis Tigers
22. Ole Miss Rebels
23. UCLA Bruins
24. Utah State Aggies
25. Michigan Wolverines

West Virginia upsets Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse

Beating Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse is one of the most difficult things to do in college basketball with the Jayhawks having one of the best home court advantages in the sport. That history didn't mean anything to West Virginia. They began Big 12 play with a road date at Kansas and escaped with a one-point win on New Year's Eve that should make us take them much more seriously going forward.

The Mountaineers showed flashes of brilliance earlier this year with wins over Gonzaga and Arizona in the non-conference portion of the schedule but winning at Kansas solidifies them as a true threat in the Big 12. The loss will ding the Jayhawks a little bit but they bounced back nicely with a win over UCF on Sunday, which should minimize their slide in the polls.

Kentucky wins a shootout against Florida

The SEC is a beast of a league this season as it entered Week 9 with five teams inside the Top 10. Two of them met at Rupp Arena and delivered a barnburner as Kentucky used its home court advantage to hand the Gators their first loss of the season in a 106-100 thriller.

Losing at Rupp is nothing to be ashamed of for the Gators, who still look like one of the SEC's best teams, but it was a huge win for Kentucky that has been trying to stabilize itself after losing point guard Kerr Kriisa to a foot injury. Having this victory over Florida is a massive one for Kentucky's resume, buying them time to sort their rotations out and wiggle room if they have an off night in league play.

Oklahoma can't measure up to Alabama

Another undefeated SEC team went down in its league opener on Saturday but Oklahoma's effort was a lot less impressive than Florida's. The Sooners were completely outmatched by Alabama, losing 107-79 in Tuscaloosa, and raised questions about how good their 13-0 record entering the game truly was.

The best results that Oklahoma put up outside of league play were a one-point victory over Michigan on a neutral floor and a five-point victory over Arizona that is likely a bubble entrant at best out of the Big 12. Texas A&M comes to Norman on Wednesday night and the Sooners need to show they are capable of hanging on the same floor with one of their league's top teams quickly.

Cincinnati hits a pothole with 0-2 Week in Big 12

The biggest faller from Week 9 was Cincinnati, which entered their conference schedule ranked No. 16 but falls out of the Top 25 entirely after going 0-2. While a two-loss week in the Big 12 isn't always a disaster, falling to mediocre Kansas State and underachieving Arizona is not a good omen for the Bearcats' chances to survive their meat grinder of a conference.

The non-conference schedule didn't do much to help Cincinnati's resume as a win over Dayton is the best result that the Bearcats picked up. Adding the Kansas State loss to one against Villanova in the Big East-Big 12 battle puts Cincinnati behind the eight ball as they are set to play Baylor and Kansas this week.