Jayhawks jump to No. 5 in latest AP Poll

By Matt Tait     Jan 22, 2018

Nick Krug
Kansas guard Devonte' Graham (4) and the Jayhawks celebrate their 71-66 win over West Virginia as time expires, Monday, Jan. 15, 2018 at WVU Coliseum in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The Kansas men’s basketball team continued its climb in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week, jumping five spots from No. 10 to No. 5 in the latest rankings released Monday afternoon.

Kansas, which knocked off then-No. 6 West Virginia on the road last Monday, followed that up with a home victory over Baylor on Saturday to make it five straight Big 12 victories since falling to Texas Tech in the second game of the conference season.

The Jayhawks are now ranked higher than they have been since being ranked second in Week 5 of the 2017-18 season after racing out to a 7-0 start.

The top four in this week’s poll are: 1. Villanova, 2. Virginia, 3. Purdue and 4. Duke, with Big 12 programs West Virginia (No. 7), Oklahoma (No. 12) — which KU will face Tuesday night in Norman, Oklahoma — and Texas Tech (No. 14) also are in this week’s Top 25. TCU, which fell to Kansas State over the weekend, dropped out of the rankings.

Here’s a quick look at the complete Week 12 poll:

1 – Villanova, 18-1 (63)

2 – Virginia, 18-1 (1)

3 – Purdue, 19-2 (1)

4 – Duke, 17-2

5 – Kansas, 16-3

6 – Michigan State, 17-3

7 – West Virginia, 16-3

8 – Xavier, 18-3

9 – Cincinnati, 17-2

10 – North Carolina, 16-4

11 – Arizona, 16-4

12 – Oklahoma, 14-4

13 – Ohio State, 17-4

14 – Texas Tech, 15-4

15 – Gonzaga, 17-4

16 – Saint Mary’s, 19-2

17 – Wichita State, 15-4

18 – Clemson, 16-3

19 – Auburn, 17-2

20 – Florida, 14-5

21 – Arizona State, 15-4

22 – Tennessee, 13-5

23 – Nevada, 18-3

24 – Rhode Island, 15-3

25 – Michigan, 17-5

Jayhawks jump to No. 5 in latest AP Poll

By Matt Tait     Nov 21, 2016

Nick Krug
The Kansas bench erupts after a foul called against Duke during the Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

A win over No. 1 Duke and 21-point victory over Siena in the home opener was good enough to bump the Kansas men’s basketball team back into the Top 5 in the AP Poll.

One week after falling to No. 7 following a season-opening loss to then-No. 11 Indiana in Hawaii, the Jayhawks are back near the top, with 1,284 points, just behind North Carolina and just ahead of Duke.

Kentucky moves up to the No. 1 spot and is followed by Villanova at No. 2 and Indiana at No. 3.

KU’s inclusion in this week’s AP Poll marks the 144th consecutive poll in which Kansas has been in the Top 25. That streak dates back to the 2008-09 season and is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

Fifth-ranked Kansas will take on UAB at 8:30 p.m. tonight in the Sprint Center at the CBE Classic. A win tonight would put the Jayhawks in the late game Tuesday against the winner of tonight’s Georgia-George Washington clash. A loss would pit KU against the loser of that game at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Week 3 2016-17 AP Poll

1 Kentucky (40) 4-0 1,494

2 Villanova (20) 5-0 1,469

3 Indiana (1) 3-0 1,348

4 North Carolina 4-0 1,319

5 Kansas 2-1 1,284

6 Duke 4-1 1,253

7 Virginia 3-0 1,126

8 Arizona 3-0 1,066

9 Xavier 5-0 1,039

10 Louisville 3-0 893

11 Gonzaga 3-0 816

12 Creighton 4-0 716

12 Oregon 2-1 716

14 UCLA 4-0 681

15 Saint Mary’s 3-0 665

16 Wisconsin 2-1 623

17 Syracuse 3-0 576

18 Purdue 2-1 571

19 West Virginia 3-0 466

20 Baylor 3-0 326

21 Iowa State 3-0 283

22 Texas 3-0 237

23 Rhode Island 4-1 198

24 Michigan State 2-2 184

25 Florida State 4-0 89

Others receiving votes: Michigan 83, Maryland 56, California 54, Miami 40, Cincinnati 34, Wichita St 29, Florida 27, Seton Hall 15, Virginia Tech 12, Butler 11, Dayton 11, Notre Dame 6, Colorado 4, Ohio State 2, Ohio 1, Rutgers 1, Tennessee State 1

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.