The Jayhawks fell just one spot to No. 21 in Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll after a 1-1 record last week. The Jayhawks moved up from No. 21 to No. 20 in last week’s poll.
Kansas (18-7) lost to Texas last Monday, but soundly defeated Oklahoma on Sunday.
Oklahoma State was the highest-ranked Big 12 school at No. 8, falling two spots from last week’s poll. Texas, the only other ranked Big 12 team, stayed at No. 10. Texas Tech and Missouri also received votes.
Syracuse, which defeated KU in last year’s national championship, moved back into the top 25 for the first time in a month. An upset of then-No. 3 Pittsburgh ended the Panthers’ 40-game home winning streak and boosted Syracuse to 24th. The loss dropped Pitt to No. 6.
Stanford and Saint Joseph’s, Division I’s only unbeaten teams, held the top two spots for the third straight week. Duke took advantage of Pitt’s loss to jump from fifth to third, followed by Gonzaga and Mississippi State.
The Cardinal (25-0), who beat Oregon State and Oregon last week, received 67 first-place votes and 1,795 points from the national media panel to stay at No. 1.
Saint Joseph’s (26-0) defeated Massachusetts and Rhode Island and was No. 1 on five ballots – three fewer than a week ago – and had 1,722 points.
Connecticut was seventh, one spot ahead of Oklahoma State, which dropped two places after losing in double overtime at Missouri. Kentucky and Texas remained ninth and 10th.
Wake Forest was No. 11 for a second straight week, followed by Providence, Cincinnati, North Carolina, Southern Illinois, North Carolina State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Georgia Tech and Memphis.
The last five ranked teams were Kansas, Arizona, Utah State, Syracuse and Louisville.
Even though star freshman Carmelo Anthony left for the NBA, Syracuse was ranked No. 7 in the preseason poll, coming off its first NCAA basketball championship.
The Orangemen lost their opener to Charlotte and dropped to 16th, but they stayed in the Top 25 until losing four of five in Big East play. Those losses to Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Providence were all on the road.
Since that skid, though, Syracuse has won five of six games.
Texas Tech (19-9) fell out from No. 25 after a seven-week run that saw coach Bob Knight’s team get as high as No. 13 during a 12-game winning streak. Since then, however, the Red Raiders have lost seven of 10, including defeats to Nebraska and Texas last week.
At No. 12, Providence (20-5) enters Tuesday night’s home showdown with Pittsburgh with its highest ranking in 26 years. The Friars, who have won six straight and have already won their most Big East games ever, were No. 11 on Feb. 21, 1978.
Syracuse was one of three teams in the preseason Top 10 to fall out of the poll. Preseason No. 3 Michigan State hasn’t been ranked since Dec. 15; preseason No. 4 Missouri hasn’t been ranked since Jan. 5.
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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 Feb. 29, 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 | Pt | Pv | |
| 1. Stanford (64) | 25-0 | 1,795 | 1 |
| 2. Saint Joseph’s (8) | 26-0 | 1,722 | 2 |
| 3. Duke | 24-3 | 1,603 | 5 |
| 4. Gonzaga | 25-2 | 1,596 | 4 |
| 5. Mississippi St. | 23-2 | 1,466 | 7 |
| 6. Pittsburgh | 25-3 | 1,370 | 3 |
| 7. Connecticut | 23-5 | 1,333 | 8 |
| 8. Oklahoma St. | 22-3 | 1,318 | 6 |
| 9. Kentucky | 21-4 | 1,296 | 9 |
| 10. Texas | 21-4 | 1,193 | 10 |
| 11. Wake Forest | 19-6 | 1,073 | 11 |
| 12. Providence | 20-5 | 933 | 13 |
| 13. Cincinnati | 20-5 | 821 | 15 |
| 14. North Carolina | 17-8 | 770 | 12 |
| 15. S. Illinois | 24-2 | 736 | 16 |
| 16. N.C. State | 18-7 | 611 | 14 |
| 17. Wisconsin | 19-6 | 556 | 22 |
| 18. Illinois | 20-5 | 520 | 23 |
| 19. Georgia Tech | 20-8 | 429 | 18 |
| 20. Memphis | 20-5 | 382 | 19 |
| 21. Kansas | 18-7 | 371 | 20 |
| 22. Arizona | 18-8 | 355 | 17 |
| 23. Utah St. | 24-2 | 244 | 24 |
| 24. Syracuse | 19-6 | 238 | – |
| 25. Louisville | 18-7 | 237 | 21 |
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Others receiving votes: Michigan St. 150, Seton Hall 51, Air Force 49, Charlotte 26, Florida 25, W. Michigan 22, UTEP 17, Kent St. 16, South Carolina 15, Dayton 14, Boston U. 8, Nevada 8, Boston College 6, Texas Tech 4, Washington 4, ETSU 3, Manhattan 3, Vanderbilt 3, Alabama 2, DePaul 2, LSU 1, Missouri 1, UAB 1, Va. Commonwealth 1.
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