After a 1-1 week, Maryland tumbled in the latest Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll, but managed to hold on to the last spot in the rankings.
The Terrapins fell seven spots, the largest drop of the week, from 18th to No. 25 in the latest poll released Monday. After earning its first ranking in nearly two years, Maryland stumbled in a 73-70 loss at Ohio State last Thursday. Led by freshman Derik Queen’s career-high 29 points, the Terrapins rebounded with a 90-81 home win over Rutgers Sunday.
Advanced metrics rankings remain higher on Maryland than the AP’s media selectors. The Terrapins are 16th in the latest NCAA NET rankings and Ken Pomeroy’s data-driven metric placing them at No. 18.
It is the first time the Terrapins (18-6, 8-5 Big Ten), winners of five of their last six games, have been ranked by AP voters in consecutive weeks since December 2022, when they were ranked in four straight polls. Next up is a trip to Nebraska, winners of four straight, on Thursday before returning to College Park to host Iowa on Sunday evening.
Auburn is still No. 1 despite a loss to Florida. The Tigers received 34 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel. Â
No. 2 Alabama moved up a spot and received 23 first-place votes. Florida and Duke are tied at No. 3 and Tennessee rounds out the top five. No. 9 St. John’s has moved into the top 10 for the first time since finishing the 1999-2000 season at No. 9. UConn, the two-time defending national champion, dropped out after being ranked at 53 weeks.
This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.