Villanova had a more impressive week than Kansas, which had to battle back from halftime deficits to win at Oklahoma and at home against Oklahoma State, and vaulted over Kansas to move into the No. 1 spot in the Associated Press college basketball poll.
Kansas remained No. 2 and Baylor, which had been No. 1, fell to sixth. UCLA is No. 3, Gonzaga No. 4, Kentucky No. 5.
KU received 32 first-place votes, Villanova 28, UCLA three and Gonzaga two. West Virginia is ranked No. 7. Although the Big 12 has three of the nations top seven teams, no other Big 12 school is ranked. TCU received the most votes among unranked schools.
Defending national-champion Villanova crushed Xavier by 25 points and St. John’s by 13 and has won three in a row since suffering its first loss, to Butler.
