Kansas retained the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll after clearing its first big hurdle of the 2024-25 season.

The Jayhawks successfully defended their home court last Friday, beating then-ninth-ranked North Carolina 92-89. Star center Hunter Dickinson had a double-double (20 points and 10 rebounds), while guard Zeke Mayo came off the bench and dropped a game-high 21 points.

Another team in the Top Five wasn't quite so fortunate, though.

Men's Basketball AP Top 25

1. Kansas

2. Alabama

3. UConn

4. Gonzaga

5. Auburn

6. Duke

7. Iowa State

8. Houston

9. Arizona

10. North Carolina

11. Tennessee

12. Baylor

13. Purdue

14. Creighton

15. Marquette

16. Indiana

17. Cincinnati

18. Arkansas

19. Kentucky

20. Florida

21. Ohio State

22. St. John's

23. Texas A&M

24. Rutgers

25. Ole Miss

Auburn climbed from 11th to fifth on the strength of a 74-69 win over Houston, which had opened at fourth in the preseason AP poll.

The individual brilliance of Tigers forward Johni Broome and guard Tahaad Pettiford counteract the Cougars' balanced attack. Whereas Houston had five players score in double figures, Broome and Pettiford accounted for more than half of their team's offensive output (41 points). Broome narrowly missed out on a double-double as well with nine rebounds, and he added five blocks for good measure.

Gonzaga made by far the biggest statement in the opening week. The Zags hammered Baylor 101-63 in Spokane, Washington.

It was a brilliant offensive performance from Mark Few's squad. Gonzaga shot 57.1 percent from the field and nailed three-pointers, and it dished out 25 assists to 11 turnovers.

Senior forward Graham Ike was the standout star.Senior forward Graham Ike was the standout star. He put up 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and one steal in just 21 minutes on the floor. Fellow senior Nolan Hickman had 16 points and six boards. Ryan Nembhard was the offensive engine with 11 dimes.

Gonzaga had let downs in its two biggest nonconference games last season, losing to Purdue and then UConn. The Bulldogs more than atoned for that against Baylor.

The Bears displayed some resilience by turning around and beating Arkansas 72-67. The outcome was a bit of a reality check for the Razorbacks, who carried so much preseason hype after hiring John Calipari and totally turning over their roster.

One thought was that Calipari would benefit from a change of scenery and perhaps experiment with some new ideas. Instead, Arkansas' loss had all the hallmarks of a Kentucky performance toward the end of Coach Cal's tenure there.

Of course, nobody should be drawing any firm conclusions this early into the new campaign.

Around this time last year, a lot of people were starting to talk themselves into Arizona being a national title contender on the heels of a win over No. 2 Duke. USC was knocking on the door of the top 15 after winning its first two games by an average of almost 20 points.

Looking to the week ahead, Kentucky and Duke head to Atlanta on Tuesday for the first test of the Mark Pope era. Purdue hosts No. 2 Alabama in West Lafayette on Friday night in another notable clash. Some unexpected upsets could provide more sizzle to an otherwise lackluster slate for the most part.