AP Top 25 basketball poll

Is this the week Princeton basketball finally breaks into the Associated Press Top 25 poll?

The Tigers have been on my ballot and inching upward for three weeks. Now they’re 8-0, with five road wins and a neutral-court triumph. It’s the program’s best start since 1966-67, and that squad made the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.

On Saturday they roared from 11 down in the final four minutes to beat Furman – which won a game in the Big Dance last March – in the closing seconds.

Not sure what it will take to get voters’ attention, but those voting for Duke and leaving Princeton out are asleep at the switch. By the way, Princeton made it deeper into March last season than the Blue Devils, too.

Here is my ballot followed by analysis, as always.

1. Arizona (7-0)
2. Houston (8-0)
3. Kansas (7-1)
4. UConn (7-1)
5. Baylor (8-0)
6. Purdue (7-1)
7. Marquette (6-2)
8. Gonzaga (6-1)
9. FAU (7-1)
10. Creighton (7-1)
11. North Carolina (7-1)
12. BYU (7-0)
13. Colorado St. (8-0)
14. James Madison (8-0)
15. Illinois (6-1)
16. Texas (6-1)
17. Tennessee (4-3)
18. San Diego State (7-1)
19. Princeton (8-0)
20. Oklahoma (7-0)
21. Kentucky (6-2)
22. Miami (6-1)
23. Wisconsin (6-2)
24. Virginia (7-1)
25. Texas A&M (6-2)

Also considered: Clemson (7-0), Ohio State (7-1), Michigan State (4-3), Northwestern (6-1).

Dropped out: No. 7 Duke (5-3) after losses to Arkansas and Georgia Tech; No. 18 Villanova (6-3) after losses to Saint Joseph’s and Drexel; No. 21 Mississippi State (6-2) after losses to Georgia Tech and Southern; No. 23 Alabama (5-2) after a loss to Clemson.

Entered: San Diego State and Princeton, both of which should have been ranked already, at No. 18 and 19; Wisconsin at No. 23 after beating No. 3 Marquette by 11; Virginia at No. 24 after beating No. 14 Texas A&M by 12.

Analysis: After Purdue handled being No. 1 by spitting the bit at Northwestern, Arizona is the easy choice, and not just because the Wildcats were No. 2. Their signature wins over Duke (road) and Michigan State (neutral) are a cut above Houston’s wins over Xavier (road) and Utah (neutral)…Duke falls from No. 7 to out…