Alabama is the new No. 1, in The AP men’s college basketball poll for the first time in 20 years. Purdue’s loss to Northwestern last week caused a jumble at the top of the AP Top 25 .
Adem Bona scored a career-high 18 points, Jaime Jaquez Jr. added another 17, and No. 11 UCLA defeated Washington 74-49 for the Bruins’ 10th straight victory.
Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr., Minnesota running back Mohamed Ibrahim and UCLA linebacker Laiatu Latu have been named college football’s comeback players of the year.
UCLA has cleared a major hurdle toward joining the Big Ten Conference in 2024, getting approval for the move from the University of California Board of Regents.
Southern California moved into the top five of The Associated Press college football poll Sunday for the first time in five years. Georgia received 62 of the 63 first-place votes in Top 25.
Southern California and UCLA’s pending moves to the Big Ten could give the league’s existing members the opportunity to expand their recruiting maps and pursue more West Coast prospects.