As expected, LSU took a dip in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll released Monday morning.
But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been for the Tigers.
Following back-to-back road losses to Alabama and Tennessee this week, LSU fell six spots to No. 19 in the nationwide poll of 61 writers and broadcasters.
It’s likely that LSU (15-4, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) was able to remain among the nation’s Top 20 teams because of the Tigers’ NET ranking of 10.
The Ferris Mowers coaches’ poll, which had LSU at No. 16 last week, is due out this afternoon.
It was another volatile week in the AP rankings as 11 of 25 teams lost at least one game — including five teams that were ranked below LSU last week.
Iowa State and Illinois also lost two games each.
There was also a change at the top of the rankings as Auburn became the No. 1 team in the AP poll for the first time in program history.
Auburn (18-1, 7-0 SEC) was No. 2 last week despite getting 11 more first-place votes than Gonzaga, but the two swapped spots this week.
Auburn collected 45 firsts this week, while Gonzaga had 15.
LSU is in the AP poll for the eighth week in a row since debuting at No. 25 on Dec. 6. The Tigers peaked at No. 12 on Jan. 10.
The SEC again has just four teams in the polls this week.
Alabama, which held off LSU 70-67 last Wednesday night and also beat Missouri, was the second team among teams receiving votes behind BYU.
In addition to Auburn and LSU, Kentucky remained 12th in the AP poll, while Tennessee, which blasted LSU on Saturday, climbed six spots to 18th.
AP Top 25
(first-place votes in parentheses)
Rank Team Record Points
1. Auburn (45) 18-1 1,504
2. Gonzaga (15) 15-2 1,475
3. Arizona (1) 16-1 1,381
4. Baylor 17-2 1,335
5. Kansas 16-2 1,281
6. Purdue 16-3 1.119
7. UCLA 13-2 1.116
8. Houston 17-2 1.116
9. Duke 15-3 1.017
10. Michigan State 15-3 979
11. Wisconsin 15-3 894
12. Kentucky 15-4 822
13. Texas Tech 15-4 766
14. Villanova 14-5 713
15. Southern Cal 16-2 711
16. Ohio State 12-4 584
17. Providence 16-2 542
18. Tennessee 13-5 419
19. LSU 15-4 399
20. Connecticut 13-4 284
21. Xavier 14-4 269
22. Marquette 14-6 177
23. Iowa State 14-5 167
24. Illinois 13-5 155
25. Davidson 16-2 132
Others receiving votes: BYU 120, Alabama 77, Texas 61, Colorado State 57, Florida State 50, Loyola Chicago 21, Oregon 19, Wake Forest 12, Indiana 10, Murray State 10, Iowa 8, TCU 6, Miami (Fla.) 4, Florida 3 , Boise State 3, Saint Mary’s 3, Wyoming 2, Iona 1, Seton Hall 1.