Nick KrugThe Kansas men’s basketball team held its spot at No. 3 in this week’s Associated Press poll despite falling to unranked Iowa State at home last Saturday.
The Jayhawks, 20-3 overall and 8-2 in the Big 12, likely maintained their place in the Top 3 on the strength of their home victory over No. 2 Baylor last Wednesday.
The Bears, who also lost to Kansas State over the weekend, fell just four spots to No. 6 and sit one game back of Kansas in the Big 12 race.
Unbeaten Gonzaga (24-0) remained No. 1 for the second week in a row and Villanova (22-2) jumped back into the No. 2 spot. The Zags received 59 first-place votes and ‘Nova picked up the other six.
Louisville (19-4) and Oregon (21-3) round out this week’s Top 5, while 13th-ranked West Virginia (18-5) joined KU and Baylor as the only Big 12 teams in this week’s Top 25.
Iowa State (3) Oklahoma State (1) and Kansas State (1) each received votes in this week’s poll.
Kansas will be in action at 8 p.m. tonight, when it travels to Sunflower State rival Kansas State for a Big Monday clash on ESPN.
— ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25 — (as of Feb. 6)
1 – Gonzaga 24-0 (59)
2 – Villanova 22-2 (6)
3 – KANSAS 20-3
4 – Louisville 19-4
5 – Oregon 21-3
6 – Baylor 20-3
7 – Wisconsin 20-3
8 – North Carolina 21-4
9 – Arizona 21-3
10 – UCLA 21-3
11 – Cincinnati 21-2
12 – Virginia 17-5
13 – West Virginia 18-5
14 – Florida State 20-4
15 – Kentucky 18-5
16 – Purdue 19-5
17 – Florida 18-5
18 – Duke 18-5
19 – South Carolina 19-4
20 – Saint Mary’s 21-2
21 – Maryland 20-3
22 – Butler 18-5
23 – Creighton 20-4
24 – Xaiver 17-6
25 – SMU 20-4
Others receiving votes: Wichita State 38, USC 35, Notre Dame 33, Northwestern 11, California 3, Iowa State 3, New Mexico State 3, Monmouth 3, VCU 3, Oklahoma State 1, Vermont 1, Kansas State 1.
Nick KrugThe Kansas men’s basketball team maintained its position in this week’s Associated Press poll, holding steady at No. 3 after home victories of UMKC and Nebraska last week.
And for the first time during the 2016-17 college basketball season, there was no change to the Top 5 of the AP poll.
Villanova (10-0) retained the top spot and received 56 of 65 first-place votes, while UCLA (10-0) stayed in the No. 2 spot and received three first-place votes. Baylor (8-0) stayed in fourth and garnered six first-place votes, while preseason No. 1 Duke (10-1) rounded out the Top 5.
In fact, the poll remained the same from Week 5 to Week 6 in the Top 11 spots, with Kentucky, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Indiana, Creighton and Louisville holding down spots 6-11 and West Virginia, at No. 12, marking the first change from last week’s poll.
The Mountaineers (8-1) moved up three spots to slide into the No. 12 spot, replacing Saint Mary’s which fell to No. 20.
Kansas (9-1) will play Davidson at 6 p.m. Saturday at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri, before traveling to Las Vegas to take on UNLV on Dec. 22 in the Jayhawks’ final non-conference game of the season.
Associated Press Poll — Dec. 12, 2016
1 Villanova (56) 10-0 1,613
2 UCLA (3) 10-0 1,505
3 Kansas 9-1 1,455
4 Baylor (6) 8-0 1,439
5 Duke 10-1 1,391
6 Kentucky 9-1 1,277
7 North Carolina 10-1 1,222
8 Gonzaga 10-0 1,195
9 Indiana 8-1 1,124
10 Creighton 10-0 1,043
11 Louisville 9-1 981
12 West Virginia 8-1 864
13 Virginia 8-1 848
14 Wisconsin 9-2 779
15 Purdue 8-2 652
16 South Carolina 8-0 598
17 Xavier 8-2 526
18 Butler 9-1 492
19 Arizona 8-2 436
20 Saint Mary’s 7-1 391
21 Notre Dame 9-1 310
22 Oregon 8-2 251
23 Florida State 10-1 227
24 USC 9-0 158
25 Cincinnati 7-2 155
Others receiving votes: Florida 44, Wichita St 33, Virginia Tech 32, Maryland 31, Valparaiso 9, TCU 8, Middle Tennessee 7, Miami 6, Minnesota 6, Kansas State 4, UCF 2, Syracuse 2, Ohio State 2, Pittsburgh 2, Michigan State 2, Iowa State 1, Clemson 1, Loyola (CHI) 1
