Duke heads into March Madness ranked No. 1 in AP Top 25, Purdue, St. John’s back in top 10

Associated Press (AP)CenterEN 3 min read 100% complete by By JOHN MARSHALLMarch 16, 2026 at 07:23 PM

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Duke University heads into the 2026 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ranked No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 poll. The Blue Devils received 50 first-place votes from a media panel after being named the tournament's top overall seed. Arizona secured the No. 2 spot with seven first-place votes, followed by Michigan, Florida, and Houston in the top five. Purdue moved back into the top 10 at No. 8 after a strong performance. The final AP rankings will be released on April 7, following the national championship game.

Key Entities & Roles

Key Player Opposition Context

Kansas City 40% St. John's University 50% Big 12 Conference 50% Charlotte 50% Michigan ×260% Atlantic Coast Conference 60% Houston ×260% Arizona ×270% March Madness 70% Purdue University ×370% AP Top 25 ×280% Duke University ×490%

Keywords

march madness 100% ncaa tournament 90% ap top 25 80% college basketball 70% duke 70% purdue 60% national championship 50% arizona 50% rankings 40%

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Positive

Score: 0.20

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Associated Press (AP)

Political Lean

Center (0.00)

Far LeftCenterFar Right

Classification Confidence

90%

Geographic Perspective

Charlotte

This article was automatically classified using rule-based analysis. The political bias score ranges from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).

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march madness ncaa tournament ap top 25 college basketball duke purdue national championship arizona rankings

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