A light holiday week schedule in men’s college basketball resulted in few changes in the USA TODAY Sports coaches poll.
Top-ranked Tennessee and No. 2 Auburn continue to monopolize the first-place votes. The Volunteers again were picked first by 20 of the 31 panelists, with the remaining 11 first-place votes going to the Tigers. The next seven positions also remain unchanged, with Iowa State, Duke and Florida rounding out the top five. There is just one minor alteration of the top 10 as Oklahoma nudges ahead of Kentucky at the No. 10 spot, but the SEC still has six of the top 12 teams in the poll.
A couple of notable outcomes during the week produced some shuffling farther down the rankings. UCLA moves up three places to No. 18 thanks to a win against Gonzaga, knocking the Zags down four positions to No. 19. Mississippi takes a seven-position hit falling to No. 23 after a loss to Memphis, which joins the poll at No. 25.
No. 24 Maryland also moves in this week, as San Diego State and St. John’s fall out.