The Arkansas Razorbacks showed put up a tough fight in their regular-season finale last Saturday afternoon. Arkansas was down by 21 points at the half, but that did not slow them down. They stormed out of the locker room and outscored Tennessee 45-28, but still fell just short of the win, taking a 78-74 loss in Knoxville.
The Razorbacks, who finished the regular season with a 24-7 record, are one of four teams from the Southeastern Conference to claim a spot in the latest poll. Alabama, who checked in at No. 24 last week, dropped out of this week’s poll after suffering two losses to Texas A&M and LSU.
| Rank | Team | Record | PTS | 1st | Prev | Chg | Hi/Lo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga | 24-3 | 790 | 27 | 1 | — | 1/5 |
| 2 | Arizona | 28-3 | 744 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2/NR |
| 3 | Baylor | 26-5 | 706 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1/11 |
| 4 | Auburn | 27-4 | 704 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1/22 |
| 5 | Kentucky | 25-6 | 676 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 3/21 |
| 6 | Kansas | 25-6 | 606 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 3/10 |
| 7 | Duke | 26-5 | 603 | 0 | 2 | -5 | 1/9 |
| 8 | Villanova | 23-7 | 548 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 4/22 |
| 9 | Purdue | 25-6 | 521 | 0 | 9 | — | 1/9 |
| 10 | Providence | 24-4 | 512 | 0 | 8 | -2 | 8/NR |
| 11 | Tennessee | 23-7 | 476 | 0 | 13 | 2 | 11/25 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | 24-6 | 460 | 0 | 10 | -2 | 8/NR |
| 13 | UCLA | 23-6 | 376 | 0 | 18 | 5 | 2/18 |
| 14 | Texas Tech | 23-8 | 361 | 0 | 12 | -2 | 9/NR |
| 15 | Illinois | 22-8 | 359 | 0 | 17 | 2 | 10/NR |
| 16 | Arkansas | 24-7 | 341 | 0 | 15 | -1 | 9/NR |
| 17 | Saint Mary’s | 24-6 | 256 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 17/NR |
| 18 | Houston | 26-5 | 255 | 0 | 14 | -4 | 7/18 |
| 19 | Murray St. | 30-2 | 223 | 0 | 22 | 3 | 19/NR |
| 20 | Connecticut | 22-8 | 216 | 0 | 19 | -1 | 17/NR |
| 21 | Southern California | 25-6 | 204 | 0 | 16 | -5 | 7/NR |
| 22 | Texas | 21-10 | 124 | 0 | 21 | -1 | 5/25 |
| 23 | Iowa | 22-9 | 94 | 0 | 25 | 2 | 23/NR |
| 24 | Colorado St. | 24-4 | 58 | 0 | NR | 3 | 19/NR |
| 25 | Ohio St. | 19-10 | 36 | 0 | 23 | -2 | 12/NR |
DROPPED OUT: No. 24 Alabama; No. 25 Michigan St.
RECEIVING VOTES: Boise St. 26; North Carolina 20; Notre Dame 16; Seton Hall 14; Michigan St 13; Alabama 11; Wake Forest 10; South Dakota State 7; San Francisco 6; Marquette 6; Loyola-Chicago 6; San Diego St. 5; Memphis 4; Louisiana State 3; Creighton 2; Rutgers 1; Iowa State 1.
The Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports, is conducted weekly throughout the regular season using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools. The panel is chosen in consultation with the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The voters represent each of the 32 Division I conferences that receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th.