Oklahoma Surges Up In New AP Top 25 Poll After 3rd Straight Win Vs. Top-10 Team

An historic month for Oklahoma basketball -- with wins over four top-10 teams, the most by a team in nearly 50 years -- culminated Saturday with a 66-61 home win over No. 9 Alabama. Now, the Sooners' stock is soaring to new heights.

In Monday's updated AP Top 25 college basketball rankings, they moved up 15 spots from No. 24 to No. 9, the biggest jump among all teams this week and the biggest jump for OU in program history.

It's the highest AP ranking for the program since the early days of the one-and-done Trae Young season, when OU began that year 14-2 before slumping late and narrowly earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. And it comes only a week after OU first busted into the rankings on the season, highlighting one of the swiftest rises for a team in recent memory. It has now won three consecutive games, all against top-10 foes.

On the receiving end of OU's last demonstration of championship mettle, Alabama did not pay a big price. The Tide fell just one spot, to No. 10. Meanwhile, Ohio State joined OU as one of two teams to move into the top 10, as it leapt from No. 13 to 7.

AP Top 25 

1. Gonzaga

2. Baylor

3. Villanova

4. Michigan

5. Houston

6. Texas

7. Ohio State

8. Iowa

9. Oklahoma

10. Alabama

11. Tennessee

12. Illinois

13. Texas Tech

14. Virginia

15. Creighton

16. Virginia Tech

17. West Virginia

18. Missouri

19. Wisconsin

20. Florida State

21. UCLA

22. Florida

23. Kansas

24. Purdue

25. Drake

Others receiving votes: Oklahoma State 111, USC 57, Loyola of Chicago 52, Minnesota 42, Xavier 25, Boise State 23, St. Bonaventure 19, Saint Louis 11, Belmont 11, Toledo 9, Oregon 8, Colorado 8, San Diego State 6, UConn 5, Louisville 4, North Carolina 3, Georgia Tech 2, Rutgers 1.