Jayhawks check in at No. 7 in this week’s AP Top 25

By Matt Tait     Jan 29, 2018

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Kansas guard Malik Newman (14) tries to drive against Oklahoma guard Trae Young (11) during the second half at Lloyd Noble Center on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2018 in Norman, Oklahoma.

A mid-week loss to Oklahoma, which remained at No. 12 in this week’s poll, dropped the Kansas men’s basketball two spots to No. 7 in the latest Associated Press Top 25.

Kansas, which leads the Big 12 by one game over four teams tied for second, checks in as the highest ranked team in the nation’s No. 1-ranked conference, with Texas Tech (No. 10), Oklahoma (12) and West Virginia (15) all ranked in the Top 15.

Kansas State, which has won four straight and crawled into the Big 12 title race since losing by a single point in Lawrence earlier this month, is not ranked in this week’s Top 25 but could take a big step toward jumping into next week’s poll with a win over KU [in front of a charged-up environment in Manhattan tonight.][1]

The top four in this week’s poll remained the same — Villanova, Virginia, Purdue and Duke — while Michigan State and Xavier both jumped Kansas.

The Jayhawks extended their nation’s best streak of consecutive weeks ranked in the AP Top 25 to 174 weeks (Villanova is second in active streaks at 86 weeks) and will look to begin the climb back up starting [tonight against K-State.][2]

Despite falling two spots in the AP Poll, the Jayhawks [actually made a move up in ESPN.com’s latest Bracketology][3] from Joe Lunardi. Lunardi now has KU as a No. 1 seed in the West region. Just four days ago, the Jayhawks were a No. 2 seed in the Midwest, according to Lunardi.

**Here’s a quick look at this week’s AP Top 25:**

1 – Villanova (47), 20-1

2 – Virginia (17), 20-1

3 – Purdue (1), 21-2

4 – Duke, 18-3

5 – Michigan State, 20-3

6 – Xavier, 19-3

7 – Kansas, 17-4

8 – Cincinnati, 19-2

9 – Arizona, 18-4

10 – Texas Tech, 17-4

11 – Auburn, 19-2

12 – Oklahoma, 15-5

13 – Saint Mary’s, 21-2

14 – Gonzaga, 19-4

15 – West Virginia, 16-5

16 – Wichita State, 17-4

17 – Ohio State, 18-5

18 – Tennessee, 15-5

19 – North Carolina, 16-6

20 – Clemson, 17-4

21 – Kentucky, 16-5

22 – Rhode Island, 17-3

23 – Florida, 15-6

24 – Michigan, 17-6

25 – Arizona State, 16-5

[1]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2018/jan/29/jayhawks-well-aware-hostile-environment-awaits-man/
[2]: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2018/jan/29/gameday-breakdown-no-5-ku-basketball-kansas-state/
[3]: http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/bracketology/_/iteration/213

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.