Duke heads into March Madness ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25, Purdue, St. John’s back in top 10

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Duke heads into March Madness ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25, Purdue, St. John’s back in top 10

Duke celebrates winning the championship of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament in an NCAA college basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

2026-03-16T18:13:54Z

                                       

Duke is the No. 1 seed in         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-bracket-83a97346c5d05058d5a10cf62bff93a8">the NCAA Tournament and No. 1 in the final         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll">AP Top 25 of the regular season.

The Blue Devils received 50 first-place votes from a 57-person media panel in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll released Monday, a day after they were named the top overall seed in         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/live/march-madness-selection-sunday-2026">the NCAA Tournament.

No. 2 Arizona received seven first-place votes, with Michigan, Florida and Houston rounding out the top five. The Wolverines,         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/march-madness-ncaa-tournament-betting-03063af18be479d3b59726303e372180">the betting favorite to win the national championship, did not receive a first-place vote in the poll. The final rankings will be released April 7, a day after the national championship game.

No. 8 Purdue jumped 10 spots back into the top 10 after         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/purdue-michigan-score-52e676dad4df4326227bf2f55b253814">beating Michigan 80-72 in the Big Ten tournament title game.

No. 9 Virginia moved up a spots for its highest ranking since reaching No. 2 in 2022-23. No. 10 St. John’s also returned to the top 10 after         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/uconn-st-johns-score-big-east-championship-7e79fb8611232d31b3f628b1d34a0eb9">blowing out UConn in the Big East title game.

   
       
   

Duke maintained the top spot after adding a second straight         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/virginia-duke-score-acc-595bda821600dfea8c610df60a448792">Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title to its regular-season title. The Blue Devils were No. 1 over the final four weeks of the regular season, extending their all-time record to 151 weeks at No. 1.

Miami (Ohio)'s run in the AP Top 25 came to an end after its 87-83 loss to to UMass in the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The RedHawks still made the NCAA Tournament and will play SMU in the First Four Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio, about an hour’s drive from their Oxford campus.

   
       




   

Rising and falling

After the Boilermakers’ big jump, No. 16 Vanderbilt climbed six places after reaching the SEC tournament title game.

No. 13 Illinois, No. 15 Nebraska and No. 20 Texas Tech had the biggest drops, each losing four places.

The Illini fell after blowing a 15-point lead         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-comeback-wins-double-digits-34f6aa2bf81cfbf00a3020f2dabd5ccb">in a 91-88 overtime loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. The Red Raiders dropped after being         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-state-cyclones-texas-tech-red-raiders-big-12-tournament-ce459d05692b38b3b53a2b7b00b89d26">blown out by Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cornhuskers         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/article/purdue-nebraska-score-23c9328e9f9632f96edf9c425799972d">lost by 16 to Purdue.

   
   
       
           
               
   
   


   
   

       
   

           
       
   
   

In and out

Miami (Ohio) was the only team to drop out of this week’s poll.

The other Miami, the one in Florida, moved into the poll at No. 23 after reaching the ACC tournament semifinals. The Hurricanes are a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament West Region, but got a tough draw, facing No. 10 Missouri in St. Louis, about 90 minutes from the Tigers’ campus.

   
       
   

Conference watch

The Big Ten has six ranked teams while the Big 12, SEC and ACC have five apiece. The Big 12 has three of the top six.

The Big East and West Coast have two ranked teams each.

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AP March Madness:         data-gtm-enhancement-style="LinkEnhancementA" href="https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness">https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

                                   
                               
                           

                           
                   
                   
Source: Duke heads into March Madness ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25, Purdue, St. John’s back in top 10