By JOHN MARSHALL AP Sports Writer
Duke is the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament and No. 1 in the final 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 the NCAA Tournament.
No. 2 Arizona received seven first-place votes, with Michigan, Florida and Houston rounding out the top five. The Wolverines, 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 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 blowing out UConn in the Big East title game.
Duke maintained the top spot after adding a second straight 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 in a 91-88 overtime loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament. The Red Raiders dropped after being blown out by Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cornhuskers 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: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness