Purdue Basketball Returns To No. 1, Alabama Rises To No. 2 As Houston And Kansas Fall

The Purdue Boilermakers returned to No. 1 in the Associated Press men's college basketball poll released Monday after some historic falls by the top two teams.

Purdue (19-1) replaced Houston (18-2) at No. 1 as the Cougars fell 56-55 at home to Temple on Sunday. On Saturday, No. 2 and defending national champion Kansas lost at home to TCU, 83-60, in one of coach Bill Self's most lopsided setbacks in his two decades with the Jayhawks.

Houston's and Kansas' losses marked the first time in AP poll history that the top two teams lost at home on back-to-back days, according to ESPN Statistics & Information. Kansas also lost back-to-back games in its home state for the first time since 1989. The Jayhawks lost at Kansas State, 83-82, in overtime on Tuesday. Kansas' 16-0 home winning streak in Allen Fieldhouse fell Sunday. It is now ranked No. 9.

Purdue Won 3 Games In 7 Days

Purdue, which was No. 1 for four weeks early this season, received 39 first place votes out of a possible 62. The Boilermakers won three games over the past seven days - 64-63 at Michigan State on Monday, 61-39 at Minnesota on Thursday and 58-55 Sunday at home against Maryland.

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats' team has won eight straight games. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images)

Alabama (17-2) jumped two spots to No. 2 after winning 78-66 at Vanderbilt on Tuesday and 85-64 at Missouri on Saturday. That completed a tumultous week off the floor for the Crimson Tide.

Last Monday, Tuscaloosa Police arrested Alabama junior forward Darius Miles and charged him with capital murder for his alleged involvement in the shooting death of a woman near the Alabama campus. He remains in a Tuscaloosa jail with friend Michael Lynn Davis, who was also charged with capital murder. Alabama coach Nate Oats immediately removed Miles from the team.

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"I did see some guys break down," Oats said of the week. "They’ve been bottling some stuff up. We’ve got a job to do. We’ve got to get to the game. We got to the game and took care of business, and then it’s almost like a big relief. The game’s over, and we can let out a sigh of relief."

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The Tide is one spot away from its first No. 1 ranking in basketball since the 2002-03 season.

Houston dropped to No. 3. Tennessee (16-3) moved up five spots to No. 4. The Volunteers won 70-59 at Mississippi State and 77-56 at LSU last week. They host No. 10 Texas (16-3) in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN).

Kansas State Rose 8 Spots In The Associated Press Poll

Kansas State's win over Kansas pushed it up eight spots to No. 5 at 17-2. The rest of the top 10 saw No. 6 Arizona, No. 7 Virginia, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Kansas and No. 10 Texas.

The second 10 featured No. 11 TCU, No. 12 Iowa State, No. 13 Xavier, No. 14 Gonzaga, No. 15 Auburn, No. 16 Marquette, No. 17 Baylor, No. 18 Charleston, No. 19 Connecticut and No. 20 Miami. Florida Atlantic came in at No. 21, followed by No. 22 Saint Mary's, No. 23 Providence, No. 24 Clemson and No. 25 New Mexico.

Blue bloods Duke, North Carolina and Kentucky received votes with 102, 12 and three, respectively.