With just the Big 12 Conference tournament remaining before the NCAA tournament, KU took a step toward a No. 1 seed in the big dance by jumping up two spots to No. 4 in the latest AP Top 25.
Road victories over Texas Tech and Missouri, along with losses by then-No. 3 Florida (24-6) and then-No. 5 Oklahoma (21-6), helped the Jayhawks (24-6) move up in the poll.
No. 3 Texas (22-5) is still the highest ranked Big 12 school, followed by Kansas, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 23 Oklahoma State (21-8). Missouri and Colorado also received votes.
Arizona (25-2) is still the top-ranked team in the nation, receiving 51 of 72 first-place votes. The rest of the top 10 is Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, Pittsburgh (23-4), Oklahoma, Florida, Marquette (23-4), Wake Forest (23-4) and Xavier (24-4).
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The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 9, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
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| Record | Pts | Pv | |
| 1. Arizona (51) | 25-2 | 1,779 | 1 |
| 2. Kentucky (21) | 26-3 | 1,749 | 2 |
| 3. Texas | 22-5 | 1,630 | 4 |
| 4. Kansas | 24-6 | 1,546 | 6 |
| 5. Pittsburgh | 23-4 | 1,425 | 7 |
| 6. Oklahoma | 21-6 | 1,363 | 5 |
| 7. Florida | 24-6 | 1,359 | 3 |
| 8. Marquette | 23-4 | 1,356 | 8 |
| 9. Wake Forest | 23-4 | 1,273 | 9 |
| 10. Xavier | 24-4 | 1,179 | 11 |
| 11. Syracuse | 23-4 | 1,131 | 12 |
| 12. Duke | 21-6 | 894 | 10 |
| 13. Illinois | 21-6 | 771 | 14 |
| 14. Maryland | 19-8 | 747 | 13 |
| 15. Stanford | 23-7 | 735 | 17 |
| 16. Memphis | 22-5 | 653 | 18 |
| 17. Notre Dame | 22-8 | 546 | 16 |
| 18. Wisconsin | 22-6 | 545 | 24 |
| 19. Creighton | 28-4 | 533 | 19 |
| 20. Louisville | 21-6 | 527 | 15 |
| 21. Georgia | 19-8 | 377 | 25 |
| 22. Dayton | 21-5 | 349 | 21 |
| 23. Oklahoma St. | 21-8 | 233 | 20 |
| 24. California | 20-7 | 131 | 22 |
| 25. Saint Joseph’s | 22-5 | 109 | — |
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Others receiving votes: Mississippi St. 106, S. Illinois 88, Utah 71, Butler 55, Connecticut 53, Missouri 18, Weber St. 16, Gonzaga 13, BYU 8, Kent St. 7, Penn 6, Troy St. 5, Holy Cross 3, Michigan St. 3, Colorado 2, LSU 2, Arizona St. 1, Boston College 1, Cent. Michigan 1, N.C.-Wilmington 1.
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