Duke ended Auburn's eight-week stay at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll on Monday, while the Tigers dropped to third behind Houston as all three programs began preparing for their conference tournaments.
The Blue Devils took advantage of back-to-back losses by Auburn to ascend to the top spot for the first time since November 2021, when Duke spent a week there in Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski's farewell season. The Blue Devils received 52 of 61 votes from the national media panel, while the Cougars picked up five and the Tigers held onto the other four.