Mens

Nov. 9, 2026 11:13 AM PT

NEW YORK — UCLA climbed into the top 10 in the first regular-season Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll of the season on Monday while Florida remained No. 1 and the top four were unchanged.

The Gators, who began the season with wins over then-No. 14 Miami and Jacksonville, earned six more first place-votes and had 53 of the 60 from a national media panel. Duke earned the other seven first-place votes, Illinois held down No. 3 in the poll, and UConn was fourth after winning an NCAA championship game rematch with then-No. 16 Michigan on Friday night.

Michigan State rounded out the top five Monday, taking the place of Arizona, which lost its opener to the Bruins a week ago.

The former Pac-12 rivals met in Las Vegas, where the Bruins’ Trent Perry scored 21 points to help them overcome a career-best 38 from the Wildcats’ Ivan Kharchenkov. Arizona got within a point with 3:11 left before the Bruins held on for the 84-75 win.

It sent UCLA from No. 22 in the preseason poll to No. 9, its highest ranking since the final poll of the 2022-23 season.

“Huge,” Bruins coach Mick Cronin said of beating Arizona. “They’re going to win a lot of games, man. I don’t know exactly how many [wins] they’ve averaged over the last three years, but I’d guess it’s close to 30. So when you get a win over a team like that, it’s massive.”

Virginia moved up three spots to sixth after a trio of wins last week, including a victory over then-No. 12 Arkansas. Texas and Houston were next, then UCLA and Louisville, which moved up one spot to round out the top 10.

Tennessee fell three spots to No. 11 after beating Wofford in its only game last week. Arizona dropped seven spots to No. 12.

“It’s not about how we start the season. It’s about how we end the season,” Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said. “Obviously, it hurts when we’re losing. Just remember that feeling. We’ll have a tough stretch in another game, and we’ll need to dig deeper.”

The rest of the Top 25

St. John’s, Gonzaga and Kansas rounded out the first 15 in the poll. Texas Tech, Miami and Alabama were next, while Arkansas dropped seven spots to No. 18 after its loss to Virginia, and Michigan fell four spots to No. 20 after its loss to UConn.

USC, Vanderbilt, Brigham Young, Kentucky and Nebraska finished out the top 25. The Wildcats, who play the Jayhawks on Tuesday night, are one week shy of becoming the first school in the nearly 78-year history of the AP poll to be ranked for 1,000 weeks.

In and out and on the bubble

The Huskers, who opened their season with wins over Le Moyne and Providence, jumped into the poll thanks in part to Iowa State’s loss to Memphis. The Cyclones fell from No. 18 out of the poll, and were third among the others receiving votes.

Memphis was the first team outside of the top 25, followed by Saint Louis, which had an impressive win over Missouri last week.

Conference watch

The Southeastern Conference not only had the No. 1 team in Florida but seven of the top 25. The Big Ten was next with three of the top 10 and six in the poll. The Big 12 had five ranked teams, the Atlantic Coast Conference had four, the Big East had two and Gonzaga gave the new-look Pac-12 one team in the top 25.

Andreas Almgren continued his remarkable year by winning the New York Marathon men’s race on his debut over 26.2 miles.

The 31-year-old Swede broke the European half-marathon record in September, having already won 10,000m gold at the European Athletics Championships in August.

Almgren then lived up to the anticipation surrounding his marathon debut by finishing in two hours, six minutes and one second in New York – 13 seconds in front of Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa.

Lesotho’s Kamohelo Mofolo finished a further 12 seconds back in third.

Almgren became the first European-born man in 30 years to win the race in New York, after Italy’s Giacomo Leone in 1996.

“I just thought, ‘I’ve got the legs today’,” said Almgren.

“I’m about to start crying. It’s better than anything I could have ever imagined.”

In the women’s race, Kenya’s Sheila Chepkirui claimed her second New York Marathon success.

The 35-year-old finished in 2:24:36, which was six seconds ahead of American Jessica McClain, with Kenya’s Hellen Obiri a further second back.

“The last mile was really tricky and I had to be patient because I knew Hellen was really strong,” said Chepkirui.

“I had to really push up to the finish line.”

The race marked the 50th anniversary of the marathon, which links New York’s five boroughs of Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan.

Jake Jarman becomes the first British male gymnast to win two individual medals in the World Gymnastics Championships, after winning silver in a thrilling men’s vault final in Rotterdam.

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After 23 minutes, England found their breakthrough as captain George Williams – overwhelmed by Tonga last week and initially nervy here – broke the line before a clever behind-the-back pass set up Young to score in the corner.

England had, belatedly, arrived at this World Cup as a force to be reckoned with. Soon after, full-back AJ Brimson – whose direct runs pierced France time and again – led a breakaway before finding Matty Ashton.

The wing had knocked on over the try line early on to spill a seemingly certain England opener, but made no mistake here for his seventh try in six Tests.

Harry Smith spotted the gap before setting up Farnworth for his first try on 27 minutes. And after a period of defence against a France side – who threatened sporadically but made too many simple mistakes – Farnworth scored again nine minutes later.

Williams powered over under the posts for 30-0, and then came England’s best move of the World Cup just before the break – slick through the hands to the right before Young set Farnworth back in for his third.

Eight minutes after the break, Young chased down a grubber kick to bring up 40 points – before Jez Litten and Williams cut through a tiring defence and Victor Radley scored unopposed.

England needed to repel another French siege, before overpowering at the other end for Litten – who impressed as an interchange – to score. Another Brimson surge led the way for try number 10, scored by Mikey Lewis.

A dreadful short kick-off was caught by Young, who raced through for his hat-trick. Jack Welsby got on the act for try 12, a third score in four minutes, as the French surrendered.

The 13th try – scored by Lewis who broke through two weak tackles – ensured England surpassed Samoa’s 74-point winning margin against the French.

After a frustrating few minutes where they had to defend deep for their clean sheet, England finally reached 80 as Brimson scored a deserved try.

Hugo Savala was also a key figure with superb kicking. He only missed one goal from 14 attempts, adding 26 points.

England are far from perfect. They made six errors in the opening 20 minutes – and a better side than France, who haven’t reached the semi-finals since 1992, would have taken advantage.

But it all comes down to points on the scoreboard – and England must hope they have enough.

After Samoa thrashed Papua New Guinea 62-6 earlier, England were a massive 150 behind the Samoans on points difference – which, if Tonga beat Samoa next weekend, would be the deciding factor between the teams as to who reaches the semis.

A hefty win here helps the English cause, but they still need work and luck to avoid missing the World Cup last four for the first time ever.

England (0) 12

Try: Brimson, Young Goal: Savala 2

Tonga (10) 30

Tries: Olakau’atu 2, Utoikamanu, Koula Goals: Katoa 3 Penalties: Katoa 4

Four years ago, England were left shocked and shattered by Samoa in the Rugby League World Cup semi-finals.

Now in 2026, Tonga – another Pacific island nation – have done the same with a victory to put England’s Australian campaign in immediate jeopardy.

Tonga combined classy attacking play with staunch defence, mixed with a pinch of luck – while being cheered on by a ferociously partisan crowd in Perth – to cause a major upset.

It was expected that Brian McDermott’s team – ranked third in the world – would have enough to open their Group B-C campaign with victory over opponents ranked fifth.

But they will now have to pick themselves up for coming group games against France and Papua New Guinea to try to secure a top-two finish in the combined six-team group table and secure a semi-final spot.

England’s day came apart amid seemingly endless mistakes, wastefulness and a few dodgy refereeing decisions.

Arguably the turning point came on 22 minutes, when England got to within a few yards of the opposition line but Victor Radley knocked on after an absolute boneshaker from Tonga captain Jason Taumalolo.

The ball was turned over, and the Tongans scored two minutes later. Stefano Utoikamanu streaked through after Isaiya Katoa’s superb inside pass cut out George Williams and Kai Pearce-Paul, to the delight of the massed Tongan fans in Perth.

For England, it seemed as if the universe was against them.

The impressive Katoa converted two penalties given following debatable calls. First, Harry Smith was penalised for obstruction when Dallin Watene-Zelezniak ran into him. Then, Herbie Farnworth conceded a sloppy penalty on the verge of half-time when accidentally tripping Watene-Zelezniak off the ball.

England badly needed half-time, and they came out refreshed.

Their first flowing move of the home game led to a try for full-back AJ Brimson after being set up by a sensational driving run from Young, holding off two tacklers over 20 metres.

Waves of England attacks began to crash on the Tongan defence, but Tonga stood firm and benefited from a moment of fortune as Haumole Olakau’atu pounced after his sketchy first grubber kick was kicked on behind the England line.

And with England wobbling, Tonga landed a one-two punch when Tolutau Koula drove over the line.

Young went over in the corner to give England false hope, but in front of their delirious fans Tonga scored their fourth try as Katoa’s grubber kick exploited defensive gaps for Olakau’atu to touch down.