UConn AP poll Apr 3, 2022; Minneapolis, MN, USA; UConn Huskies mascot cheers during a break against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the first half in the Final Four championship game of the women’s college basketball NCAA Tournament at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The newest AP Top 25 college basketball poll dropped on Monday morning and there were big shifts everywhere.

A new No. 1 team greeted us in the poll as the week begins. Since the Houston Cougars fell to the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Cougars dropped several spots from their spot at the top. The Purdue Boilermakers are now the No. 1 team in the land. Purdue, 10-0 on the season, received 27 first-place votes in a hotly-contested race up at the top.

Purdue basketball is very excited to be at the top. The team unearthed a fact that showcased its dominant strength. The account tweeted that this marked the “2nd straight year that Purdue has been ranked No. 1.”

Meanwhile, the Virginia Cavaliers now sit 2nd after the shakeup. The Cavaliers are 8-0 on the season and were idle this week after they last played on December 6. They won’t play again until this Saturday, December 17 and it’ll be a big one as they face aforementioned Houston. UVA received 19 first-place votes in the poll.

The UVA Men’s Hoops account acknowledged their new ranking with a simple emoji.

The UConn Huskies have reached a level the program hasn’t since its prior heyday in the Big East. After another clean week of games, the Huskies are 11-0 and No. 3 in the country. UConn is at its highest spot in the polls during the regular season in well over a decade. The last time the Huskies were inside the Top 3 was the 2008-09 season when they held the No. 1 ranking for a time. UConn received 15 first-place votes.

UConn was sure to let everyone know how satisfied they were to be in that spot again. And popular UConn account No Escalators had a jab ready for the new No. 1 team. They said, “Purdue may be ranked first in the AP poll but UConn is ranked first according to a spreadsheet, a humiliating disgrace for Purdue grads everywhere.”

Alabama and Houston rounded out the Top 5 as the Crimson Tide rose to 4th while the Cougars dropped to 5th.

A surprising gaffe from a pollster was also a topic of discussion. Russell Steinberg of The Boardroom tweeted that 1-9 Mississippi Valley State received numerous votes. According to Wisconsin writer Abby Schnalbe, that was part of a flub on her behalf that she owned up to.

Finally, Kansas fell in the rankings despite the fact that they clobbered longtime rival Mizzou. As Michael Swain of 247Sports pointed out, maybe they didn’t get enough style points?

[Associated Press]

About Chris Novak

Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022