Nick KrugFor the second consecutive week, Kansas received some first-place votes in the Associated Press college basketball poll, but came in at No. 2, behind defending national champion Villanova.
In the latest Top 25, published Monday, the Wildcats (19-1) had 35 first-place votes and the Jayhawks (18-1) collected 28. Last week, KU had 32 first-place votes, compared with 28 for Villanova.
Gonzaga (19-0), the last unbeaten team in Division I, got the other two first-place votes and moved up one spot to third, the Zags’ highest ranking of the season.
Kentucky and Baylor both moved up one place to fourth and fifth, while Florida State jumped from 10th to sixth, the Seminoles’ highest ranking since February 1993, when they also were sixth.
Arizona had the week’s biggest jump, going from 14th to No. 7, with its win at UCLA on Saturday. The loss knocked the Bruins from third to No. 8.
North Carolina and Oregon rounded out the Top Ten.
After two losses last week, West Virginia dropped from No. 7 to No. 18.
Kansas State, one of the teams to topple WVU, just missed out on the top 25, coming in six votes behind Florida.
Kansas has quite a week coming up. The Jayhawks are at No 18 West Virginia Tuesday, and then visit No. 4 Kentucky Saturday.
KU has been ranked no worse than No. 5 since mid-November and held the No. 2 spot for the third straight week.
No. 1: Villanova
No. 2: Kansas
No. 3: Gonzaga
No. 4: Kentucky
No. 5: Baylor
No. 6: Florida State
No. 7: Arizona
No. 8: UCLA
No. 9: North Carolina
No. 10: Oregon
No. 11: Butler
No. 12: Virginia
No. 13: Louisville
No. 14: Notre Dame
No. 15: Wisconsin
No. 16: Creighton
No. 17: Duke
No. 18: West Virginia
No. 19: Cincinnati
No. 20: Purdue
No. 21: Saint Mary’s
No. 22: Maryland
No. 23: South Carolina
No. 24: Xavier
No. 25: Florida
