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
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