Johni Broome 's injury makes Auburn's spot more tenuous, but the Tigers beat Mississippi State by 22 even without him. Duke is barely breaking a sweat while blowing out inferior ACC competition. And then there's Iowa State, which has only a two-point loss to Auburn blemishing its résumé and just dispatched Kansas by 17.

Earlier in the week, while discussing Auburn, I explained why I think the Tigers deserve their No. 1 ranking but acknowledged I also find it hard to believe they're actually the best team in the country without the injured Johni Broome.

This week's AP top 25 men's basketball poll has Illinois at #19 in the country. That's down from #13 last week. Illinois stands at 13-and-4 on the season. Six Big Ten Conference teams are in the top 25 this week led by Michigan State (#12) and Oregon (#13). Purdue is 17th - Illinois 19th - Michigan 20th - and Wisconsin enters the poll at #24.

The Illini had the week's biggest slide by falling six spots after a weekend home loss to Southern California.

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Chad Baker-Mazara scored 20 points, and No. 1 Auburn beat No. 15 Mississippi State 88-66 on Tuesday night in its first game without star center Johni Broome.

In the absence of Broome, Auburn front-liner Chaney Johnson stepped up and delivered. Not only did Johnson tie his season high in minutes (34), but he had 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks.

Illinois was the week's biggest riser, jumping nine spots from No. 22 to No. 13 after sweeping a West Coast swing.

The new AP poll is out, and the Auburn Tigers are No. 1 on the list for the second time in program history. The first time was for three weeks in January and February of 2022. Auburn jumped Tennessee for the No. 1 spot after the Volunteers lost 73-43 to Florida on Tuesday in Gainesville. Tennessee had be No. 1 for five weeks.

Grant Nelson had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 4

No. 25 Baylor (11-5) did not play. Next: vs. TCU, Sunday.

Colgate at Lafayette, 1 p.m. Maine at UMBC, 1 p.m. Mercyhurst at Wagner, 1 p.m. Albany (NY) at Binghamton, 2 p.m. Canisius at Fairfield, 2 p.m. Cornell at Penn, 2 p.m.

And, in the game of the night, on CBS Sports Network, Oregon State beat nationally ranked Gonzaga 97-89 in overtime. Relatively speaking, it was a slow day in the sport (except for another Florida coach being accused of wrongdoing in a Title IX complaint).