The Associated Press released its newest college basketball poll on Monday, with four SEC teams holding strong in the updated rankings.
Tennessee stayed at No. 3 after another impressive week, as Rick Barnes’ squad improved to 10-1 on the season after wins over Samford and Wake Forest.
Meanwhile, Auburn dropped to No. 12 after the road loss to NC State, but Jared Harper and company rebounded nicely with a victory over Murray State.
AP POLL ALERT: Duke regains No. 1 spot in AP Top 25 men's hoops after Texas Tech win; Kansas drops to No. 5 after loss. See the full poll: https://t.co/ryO2OFDAmo pic.twitter.com/GeP461tSRc
— AP Top 25 (@AP_Top25) December 24, 2018
And as expected, Kentucky jumped up several spots to No. 16 after the huge win over North Carolina in Las Vegas.
Mississippi State also finds itself in good shape at No. 19 thanks to pushing its winning streak to eight.
Teams around the league will now enter the stretch run of the non-conference schedule, with SEC play set to get underway on Jan. 5.
For more SEC basketball coverage, follow me on Twitter @theblakelovell.