Tennessee remains No. 1 after a quiet holiday week in the AP Top 25.

The Volunteers (12-0) received 41 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday. No. 2 Auburn had 20 first-place votes, with Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounding out the top five.

The top 13 teams remained unchanged following a week in which 12 ranked teams didn’t play.

Most of the AP Top 25 teams in action last week went up against schools from smaller conferences.

Not UCLA and Gonzaga.

The Zags and Bruins played the final marquee game of the nonconference season on Saturday, squaring off in the first college basketball game played at Intuit Dome.

UCLA held off Gonzaga’s late rally to pull out a 65-62 win and was rewarded in this week’s poll by moving up seven spots to No. 15. Gonzaga dropped five spots to No. 19 with the loss.

Tennessee, which won its lone game of Christmas week, beating Middle Tennessee 82-64, is among four unbeatens left in men’s Division I basketball, including three from the SEC, joining No. 6 Florida (10-0) and No. 12 Oklahoma (10-0). Drake (9-0) also begins this week undefeated.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma moved into a tie with Tara VanDerveer for the most appearances with one school in the women’s basketball AP Top 25 as the Huskies remained seventh .

Auriemma has now led UConn to 627 appearances in the poll in his 40 years at the school, matching VanDerveer’s mark at Stanford before her retirement. She also had Ohio State ranked 27 times when the Hall of Fame coach was in charge of that school before joining the Cardinal and holds the overall record by a coach for appearances in the poll.

Auriemma passed Van- Derveer’s NCAA record career win total earlier this season and has 1,224 victories now after his team routed Providence on Sunday.

UCLA, South Carolina and Notre Dame remained the top three teams and the first 18 schools were unchanged.

The Bruins (13-0) received 30 of the 32 first-place votes. South Carolina and Notre Dame each garnered one. USC, Texas and LSU followed Notre Dame. Maryland, Oklahoma and Ohio State rounded out the first 10 teams.

Six former Florida State men’s basketball players sued Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton, alleging he failed to make good on a promise to get each of them $250,000 in name, image and likeness compensation.

The plaintiffs — Darin Green Jr., De’Ante Green, Cam’Ron Fletcher, Josh Nickelberry, Primo Spears and Jalen Warley — filed suit in Leon County circuit court.

The former players allege Hamilton promised them the money from his “business partners.” The lawsuit says they walked out of a practice last season over the missed payments and intended to boycott a Feb. 17 game against Duke. They ended up playing — the Seminoles lost 76-67 — amid a guarantee from Hamilton that they would be paid but never were, according to the suit.

The complaint includes multiple text-message exchanges between players and some between players and Hamilton.

FSU finished 17-16 last season, including 10-10 in the ACC. The 76-year-old Hamilton is in the final year of his contract. The Seminoles are 9-4, including 0-2 in league play.

None of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit remain with the team. Green and Nickelberry exhausted their college eligibility last spring, and the four others transferred.

NO. 2 AUBURN 87, MONMOUTH 58: Johni Broome had 14 points and 11 rebounds, Dylan Cardwell had 12 points and 11 rebounds and the Tigers beat the visiting Hawks on Monday night.

After an eight-day break between games, Auburn (12-1) struggled early and trailed Monmouth (2-11) for nearly seven minutes in the first half. Chaney Johnson then scored eight of his 12 points in quick succession to help the Tigers take control.

NO. 3 IOWA ST. 79, COLORADO 69: Curtis Jones scored 20 points, Keshon Gilbert had 14 and the visiting Cyclones opened Big 12 Conference play with a win over the Buffaloes.

The Cyclones (11-1) have won eight in a row, two over Colorado. They beat the Buffaloes 99-71 in the fifth-place game in the Maui Invitational on Nov. 27.

Julian Hammond III had 21 points for Colorado (9-3), which returned to the Big 12 after 13 seasons in the Pac-12.

NFL

The Chicago Bears plan to have Caleb Williams make one more start rather than hold their prized rookie quarterback out of the season finale at Green Bay.

Interim coach Thomas Brown shot down the idea of having Williams sit out Sunday’s game at Lambeau Field, saying it’s not something he and management discussed. He said the team’s other healthy starters will play, too.

“As far as Caleb goes, as far as dialog about him not playing, that’s never come up or been talked about at all,” Brown said Monday.

The Bears (4-12) are reeling with 10 straight losses. Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the draftout of USC, has been sacked a franchise-record and NFL-leading 67 times. But the Bears believe the benefits of having him play against the Packers outweigh the potential injury risks.

Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner. has dazzled at times with his ability to avoid defenders and make throws.

He has started every game and thrown for 3,393 yards — fifth on Chicago’s single-season list — with 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. He threw a league rookie-record 353 consecutive passes without an INT before getting picked off by Seattle’s Riq Woolen near the end of a 6-3 loss on Thursday.

TENNIS

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka made a winning return to the court after an almost three month absence Monday in the first round of the ASB tennis classic in Auckland, undeterred by protests outside the stadium against her Israeli opponent.

Osaka beat qualifier Lina Glushko 6-4, 6-4 in a tight contest in her first match since October when a back injury at the China Open ended her 2024 season.

All the hallmarks of Osaka’s game were present Monday: the powerful serve, forceful ground-strokes particularly from the forehand side and the aggression. She looked relaxed and comfortable on court with no sign of her recent injury.

MLB

The Washington Nationals agreed to terms with first baseman Josh Bell on a one-year contract worth $6 million.

Bell returns to Washington after spending the 2021 season and the bulk of 2022 there. He was sent to San Diego with Juan Soto at the trade deadline in ’22

Now 32, Bell played for Cleveland, Miami and Arizona the past two seasons. He is a veteran of 1,159 major league games, and in the regular season, is hitting .258 with 171 home runs and 613 RBIs.

Bell had career highs of 37 home runs and 116 RBIs for the Pirates in 2019, when he was an NL All-Star.

The Nationals are also bringing back pitcher Trevor Williams on a two-year contract worth $14 million.

The right-handed starter spent the past two seasons with Washington. Williams made just 13 starts in 2024 while spending more than three months on the injured list with a strained muscle in his throwing arm.

Williams, 32, has a 4.30 ERA in 202 major league appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, New York Mets and Nationals since making his debut in 2016.