James Madison men, Virginia Tech and West Virginia women make modest climbs in AP basketball poll

Purdue remained atop the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third straight week Monday, while Gonzaga dropped to No. 24 after a loss to San Diego State but kept alive its streak of 142 consecutive weeks in the poll. James Madison (13-0, 1-0) climbed one position to 19th after beating Texas State in a Sun Belt opener Saturday. No other team from Virginia even received a vote,. The Dukes, No. 3 Houston and No. 22 Mississippi are the last three men’s Division I unbeatens. The Boilermakers picked up three more first-place votes and had 49 of 63 from the national media panel, easily outdistancing second-place Kansas, which received five first-place nods. Houston picked up the other nine first-place votes. Connecticut and Tennessee each moved up one spot to round out the top five following Arizona’s loss to Stanford on Sunday. Gonzaga fell 11 spots from No. 13 after an 84-74 home loss to San Diego State. Gonzaga has been ranked in every poll since Jan. 11, 2016, but that streak is in jeopardy after coach Mark Few’s team dropped to 9-4 with no Quad 1 wins this season. “These guys have some great fight and spirit and a lot of substance to them,” Few said, “but at this point, we should be pretty well along on our way on some of the mental errors we’re making, and we’re just not quite.” Arizona, which spent two weeks at No. 1, fell from fourth to 10th after Stanford rolled to a 100-82 home victory Sunday in their Pac-12 matchup. The Wildcats’ second loss in three games allowed a bunch of teams to jump ahead of them: Kentucky climbed two spots to sixth, Marquette moved up three spots to seventh, North Carolina rose to eighth and Illinois climbed two spots to ninth. Oklahoma began the next 10, with Big 12 newcomer BYU right behind. Colorado State climbed back to No. 13 to match the best ranking in school history, set earlier this season, while Duke, Memphis and Clemson were right behind the Rams. Florida Atlantic dropped from a program-best seventh to No. 17. The Owls beat Texas A&M and earned a marquee double-overtime victory over Arizona, but they lost to Bryant and were upset by Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday night. “They outplayed us in every facet of the game,” Owls coach Dusty May said. “As a group, we haven’t handled success as well as we need to.” No. 25 Auburn earned a ranking for the first time this season. Virginia Tech was 13th and West Virginia 24th in Monday’s AP women’s poll, each moving up one spot. South Carolina received 34 of the 35 first-place votes from a national media panel after being unanimous the previous six weeks. UCLA got the other No. 1 vote after beating then-No. 6 Southern California in a Los Angeles showdown Saturday. The No. 2 Bruins have defeated four top-25 teams this season, with two wins coming at neutral sites and one on the road. Syracuse entered the poll at No. 25, marking its first appearance since Jan. 18, 2021. The Orange beat then-No. 13 Notre Dame on Sunday in an ACC game. The Irish fell to 16th. The Orange (11-1) have lost this season only to Maryland and will next play at North Carolina on Thursday. Syracuse is off to its best start since 2017-18. The Tar Heels fell out of the Top 25, ending a 34-week streak. West Virginia (12-0, 1-0 Big 12) has been led by Lake Taylor High graduate JJ Quinerly, She leads the Mountaineers at 18.9 points per game and also is averaging 3.6 assists, 3.3 steals and 3.1 rebounds. Connecticut moved up three spots to No. 12 after routing then-No. 18 Marquette on Sunday. The Huskies steadily have climbed in the poll after falling to a 30-year low of 17th in early December. Next up for Geno Auriemma’s team is a trip to Nebraska to face No. 21 Creighton on Wednesday. No. 3 North Carolina State, led by Princess Anne High graduate Aziaha James, and Iowa followed UCLA.