Associated Press releases pre-tournament Top 25, Duke firmly out of top 10

The Associated Press released one more top 25 before the NCAA Tournament is set to tip off, and the Blue Devils slid even farther down.

With March Madness finally here and the tournament field set, the Associated Press released one last top-25 ranking on Monday before the festivities really begin.

The Blue Devils, after the upset loss to NC State in the ACC Tournament, dropped two more spots down to 13th. The ranking reflects their position as the No. 4 seed in the South region, outside of the top 12 overall teams.

Duke finished the regular season and conference tournament with a 24-8 record, finishing with 834 points in the voting.

Defending national champion Connecticut moved back atop the rankings with Houston in second, followed by Purdue. Iowa State, despite being a No. 2 seed in the bracket, took the fourth spot ahead of North Carolina, who dropped to fifth.

Tennessee, Auburn, Marquette, Arizona, and Illinois made up the lower half of the top 10, with Creighton and Kentucky taking the spots ahead of Duke.