AP Top 25 Basketball: Zags move up; Michigan jumps to No. 3

The Gonzaga Bulldogs and the Michigan squad that blew them out at the Players Era Championship were among the risers in the new AP Top 25 poll.

BY JOHN MARSHALL

Dec 1, 2025, 1:31 PM

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Elliot Cadeau of the Michigan Wolverines drives to the basket against Gonzaga on Nov. 26, 2025. (Candice Ward/Getty Images)

(Candice Ward/Getty Images)

After the most lopsided loss in 902 games under coach Mark Few, the Gonzaga Bulldogs actually moved up in the Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll on Monday.

The Zags rose one spot to No. 11 following a week where they lost by 40 points to Michigan in the title game of the Players Era Championship. However, Gonzaga also picked a pair of quality wins at the tournament, beating then-No. 8 Alabama 95-85 and thumping Maryland 100-61 to reach the title tilt.

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Michigan jumped to No. 3 after its dominant run through the Players Era Championship.

No. 1 Purdue and No. 2 Arizona remained atop the rankings. The Boilermakers received 40 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel, Arizona got six and Michigan got 15.

Duke and UConn held their positions from last week to round out the top five. Louisville remained No. 6, followed by Michigan State, which moved up four spots and No. 8 Houston, which dropped five places after losing to then-No. 17 Tennessee at Players Era.

Michigan made a run to the Sweet 16 in coach Dusty May’s first season a year ago and is looking like a title contender. The Wolverines opened the Las Vegas tournament with a 94-54 win over San Diego State, crushed then-No. 21 Auburn 102-72 and handed Gonzaga a 101-61 loss.

That’s three wins by a combined 110 points and four straight wins by at least 20 points, the last two over ranked teams.

“Today was to put the world on notice that we’re here to be the best team in the nation and we’ll continue to do that,” Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg said after the win over Gonzaga.

Rising

No. 17 Vanderbilt had the biggest jump of the week, moving up seven spots after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis title in the Bahamas.

No. 10 Iowa State climbed five places after winning three games at the Players Era championship.

No. 7 Michigan State moved up four places following lopsided wins over East Carolina and No. 16 North Carolina in the Fort Myers Tip-Off. No. 13 Tennessee also gained four spots after beating Houston and losing to Kansas, which moved back into the poll at No. 21.

Falling

No. 23 St. John’s had the biggest drop among teams still in the poll, losing nine places after wrapping losses to Iowa State and Auburn around a win over Baylor at the Players Era.

Reigning national champion Florida fell five places to No. 15 after losing to TCU in the Rady Children’s Invitational. No. 12 Alabama dropped four places after losing to Gonzaga in its opener of the Players Era.

In and out

No. 21 Kansas returned to the poll after dropping out last week with three wins at the Players Era.

No. 24 Southern California is ranked for the first time since the 2023-24 season following three wins in three days to take the Maui Invitational title.

UCLA fell out of the poll from No. 18 after losing to California 80-72 in the Empire Classic championship game.

North Carolina State dropped out of the poll from No. 23 and didn’t receive a single vote following a 1-2 run through the Maui Invitational.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference had the most teams in the AP Top 25 for the second straight week with seven. The Big 12 matched the Big Ten with six ranked teams, the Atlantic Coast Conference had three, the Big East had two and the West Coast Conference one.

The Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.

Friday: Michigan dominates Gonzaga Bulldogs 101-61 in Players Era final