Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll: Jerry Carino's ballot

1. Purdue (8-0)

2. Baylor (8-0)

3. Duke (7-1)

4. Gonzaga (7-2)

5. UCLA (8-1)

6. Villanova (6-2)

7. Texas (6-1)

8. Kansas (6-1)

9. Kentucky (6-1)

10. Arkansas (8-0)

11. Arizona (7-0)

12. Alabama (7-1)

13. Tennessee (6-1)

14. Houston (7-1)

15. Michigan St. (7-2)

16. UConn (8-1)

17. Colorado State (9-0)

18. Iowa St. (8-0)

19. Southern Cal (8-0)

20. Auburn (7-1)

21. Wisconsin (7-1)

22. Florida (6-1)

23. Ohio State (6-2)

24. Seton Hall (7-1)

25. Xavier (7-1)

MORE SETON HALL: Ball rolling on new practice facility

Also considered: St. Bonaventure (7-1), Oklahoma (7-1), Illinois (6-2), Iowa (7-1), LSU (8-0), Providence (8-1), North Carolina (6-2).

Dropped out: No. 12 BYU (7-1) after losing to Utah Valley; No. 18 Memphis (5-3) after losing to Georgia and Ole Miss; No. 24 Michigan (5-3) after losing to North Carolina.

Entered: Colorado State at No. 17 after beating St. Mary’s; I’ve been voting for them since the preseason poll. Ohio State at No. 23 after beating No. 1 Duke. Xavier at No. 25 after a win over Oklahoma State.

Analysis: Purdue is the runaway choice for No. 1 and will be visiting Rutgers Thursday -- the first time the Scarlet Knights have hosted the No. 1 team since North Carolina in 2007….underrated Michigan State rises seven spots after handling Louisville…Florida drops eight spots after losing to Oklahoma...Seton Hall is a lock to stay in the poll but probably won’t rise more than a spot or two from No. 25.

By conference: SEC (6), Big 12 (4), Big East (4), Big Ten (4), Pac-12 (3), American (1), West Coast (1), Mountain West (1), ACC (1).

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll: Jerry Carino's ballot