Undefeated Baylor, coming off of a 76-50 blasting of Oklahoma, moved from fourth to second, behind Villanova, in the Associated Press college basketball top 25 poll released today. Kansas remained No. 3.
The Bears defeated four ranked teams during the nonconference season, including Oregon by a 66-49 margin. Oregon knocked UCLA out of the No. 2 spot this past week with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
“I anticipated that,” Self said of the Bears passing his team. “… That didn’t surprise me at all. They deserve where they’re at.”
Baylor (13-0) has been nothing short of the college basketball’s biggest surprise in the nation. Newcomers at the point and the post have been at the heart of the Bears’ surprising start. Manu Lecomte, a transfer from Miami, Fla., averages 11.8 points and 5.3 assists, has a .403 3-point shooting percentage and shoots .821 from the line.
Center Jo Lual-Acuil is the team’s fourth-leading scorer with 10.7 points per game and averages 3.8 blocks per game.
Do-it-all forward Johnathan Motley (16.3 ppg, 9.1 rpg) and 3-point marksman Al Freeman (12.2, .455) lead the team in scoring.
The poll reflects the reality that the Big 12 shapes up as a three-team race among Baylor, Kansas (12-1) and West Virginia (11-1), ranked No. 7. No other Big 12 school appears in the top 25, although Kansas State ranked fifth, Iowa State sixth, among others receiving votes.
**The top 25** (record; previous rank; points):
1 – Villanova (14-0; 1; 1,619)
2 – **Baylor** (13-0; 4; 1,532)
3 – **Kansas** (12-1; 3; 1,503)
4 – UCLA (14-1; 2; 1,406)
5 – Gonzaga (14-0; 7; 1,357)
6 – Kentucky (11-2; 8; 1,280)
7 – **West Virginia** (12-1; 11; 1,179)
8 – Duke (12-2; 5; 1,090)
9 – Louisville (12-2; 6; 1,063)
10 – Creighton (13-1; 10; 1,015)
11 – Virginia (11-2; 12; 954)
12 – Florida State (14-1; 20; 902)
13 – Wisconsin (12-2; 14; 865)
14 – North Carolina (12-3; 9; 785)
15 – Oregon (13-2; 18; 771)
16 – Xavier (12-2; 17; 634)
17 – Arizona (13-2; 18; 613)
18 – Butler (12-2; 13; 477)
19 – Saint Mary’s (12-1; 19; 416)
20 – Purdue (12-3; 15; 405)
21 – Virginia Tech (12-1; NR; 293)
22 – Cincinnati (12-2; 23; 258)
23 – Notre Dame (12-2; 24; 250)
24 – Florida (10-3; 25; 193)
25 – USC (14-1; 22; 74)
**Others receiving votes:** Minnesota 56, Clemson 23, Miami 16, Maryland 6, **Kansas State** 5, **Iowa State** 3, Seton Hall 3, Northwestern 2, VCU 2, UNC Wilmington 1.
