Auburn and Duke remain 1-2 atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third straight week, while Maryland is back in the rankings for the first time in nearly two years.
Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (20-1) held the No. 1 ranking for the fourth consecutive week in Monday’s poll and the third in a row as the unanimous choice. Auburn has claimed 246 of 248 first-place votes over the past month while remaining unbeaten in a rugged Southeastern Conference with nine ranked teams.
Auburn’s only loss came to Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils (19-2), who enter the week with the nation’s longest winning streak at 15 games after rolling past rival North Carolina.
The two teams offered the only stability after 15 teams in last week’s AP Top 25 lost last week, with three of those losing twice.
The top tier
Alabama moved up a spot to No. 3, followed by Tennessee jumping four spots to No. 4 in an SEC-heavy top tier. Houston climbed …