It’s business as usual in the SEC, with four teams in the AP Top 10 for the 13th consecutive week — No. 1 Auburn, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Tennessee and No. 6 Alabama.

Auburn retained the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25, for the seventh straight week, followed by No. 2 Duke. Houston will hold the No. 4 spot, while St. John’s came in at No. 7 and Michigan State at No. 8. The Big 12 rounded out the top 10 with Iowa State at No. 9 and Texas Tech at No. 10.

For the second straight week, the top 10 saw minimal movement, though Alabama dropped two spots. St. John’s and Michigan State made the biggest jumps, rising three and six spots. Louisville climbed six spots to No. 19, while Clemson jumped five places to No. 13. Meanwhile, Maryland and Memphis each moved up four spots to No. 16 and No. 18.

Preseason No. 1 Kansas has dropped out of the men’s poll, snapping an 80-week streak in the rankings — their first absence since February 8, 2021. However, Kansas wasn’t the only preseason-ranked team to drop out of the rankings this season. Two-time defending national champion UConn remained unranked for the third straight week, while 13 of the preseason top 25, including North Carolina, Baylor, and Gonzaga, failed to crack this week’s ranking.

Here’s the full poll, along with the ballot of The Athletic’s C.J. Moore:

Don’t give up on Iowa State, Arizona after tough losses

The No. 9 Cyclones got a pass from me for their loss at Houston this weekend because their two leading scorers (Curtis Jones and Keshon Gilbert) were both out. It’ll be interesting to see how the selection committee handles Iowa State. At full strength, this team is 18-1 with wins over Marquette, Texas Tech and Kansas.

Arizona lost to BYU on this foul call:

That’s a tough way to lose a game, and I wasn’t going to penalize the Wildcats (who dropped three spots to No. 22) for that. BYU is also one of the hottest teams in the country. If you sort for the last four games in Bart Torvik’s database, the Cougars have been the fourth-best team in college hoops over the last two weeks.

It will be a big weekend for these two Big 12 teams with Arizona visiting Iowa State. The Cyclones were a No. 2 seed in the committee’s top-16 reveal, and a win on Saturday could help keep them in that range. — C.J. Moore, college basketball staff writer

BYU in, Kansas out

No. 25 BYU replaced Kansas on my ballot this week, and if you were only going by the numbers, there’s justification for still ranking the Jayhawks. They’re No. 21 at KenPom and Torvik, No. 20 in the NET and their worst metric ranking is 29, in wins above bubble. They’re ranked higher than BYU everywhere except Torvik.

But watching the Jayhawks lately, it’s hard to rank them. They’ve lost three of their last five games, and two of those losses were to non-tourney teams in Kansas State and Utah. BYU smoked Kansas by 34 points last week. The numbers were close enough that you can justify going with the Cougars. As stated above, they are one of the hottest teams in the country right now, and if this were a power ranking, I’d be considering the Cougars near the top 10. — Moore

Saint Mary’s ranked again

This is the fourth consecutive year that new No. 23 Saint Mary’s has been ranked in the AP Top 25 and the program’s 11th season appearing in an AP poll. It’s a good time to remind everyone that Randy Bennett is an awesome basketball coach and arguably one of the best in the game, a fact probably not recognized by as many as should be because he works at a small school on the West Coast.

But consider this: Saint Mary’s had only been to three NCAA Tournaments before Bennett arrived, had only been ranked in seven polls and last won an NCAA Tournament game in 1959. Also relevant: Two of Bennett’s starters off last year’s WCC champs — Aidan Mahaney (UConn) and Joshua Jefferson (Iowa State) — left in the transfer portal, and the Gaels keep winning. — Moore

Required reading

(Photo: Brandon Sumrall / Getty Images)