The Kansas men’s basketball program held on to its No. 5 ranking in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll.
Wins over then-No. 8 Creighton and Omaha helped the Jayhawks (6-1) join Gonzaga, Baylor, Iowa and Michigan State in holding their spots in the Top 5 from last week.
Creighton dropped a spot to No. 9. Illinois dropped seven spots, from No. 6 to No. 13, after falling to Missouri. The Tigers are now ranked for the first time this season at No. 16. And Duke fell 11 spots from No. 10 to No. 21.
In all, five Big 12 teams are in the poll’s first 14 spots, with No. 2 Baylor and No. 5 Kansas being joined by No. 8 West Virginia, No. 11 Texas and No. 14 Texas Tech in the Top 15.
Oklahoma State is also receiving 48 votes, which essentially has the Cowboys ranked 30th this week.
After having a weekend game with Tarleton State canceled because of COVID-19 issues at TSU, Kansas will spend the next couple of days preparing to open Big 12 play against No. 14 Texas Tech at 6 p.m. Thursday in Lubbock, Texas, before returning to Lawrence for a Dec. 22 clash with No. 8 West Virginia.
Here’s a look at this week’s entire AP Top 25:
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1 – Gonzaga, 3-0, 1,541 (54)
2 – Baylor, 4-0, 1,491 (7)
3 – Iowa, 6-0, 1,427 (1)
4 – Michigan State, 6-0, 1,307
5 – Kansas, 6-1, 1,289
6 – Houston, 4-0, 1,169
7 – Villanova, 5-1, 1,163
8 – West Virginia, 6-1, 1,113
9 – Creighton, 4-1, 1,037
10 – Tennessee, 2-0, 941
11 – Texas, 5-1, 873
12 – Wisconsin, 4-1, 846
13 – Illinois, 4-2, 742
14 – Texas Tech, 6-1, 669
15 – Florida State, 3-0, 619
16 – Missouri, 5-0, 491
17 – Virginia, 3-1, 456
18 – San Diego State, 5-0, 455
19 – Rutgers, 4-0, 396
20 – Ohio State, 5-0, 392
21 – Duke, 2-2, 345
22 – North Carolina, 4-2, 328
23 – Louisville, 4-0, 164
24 – Clemson, 5-0, 156
25 – Michigan, 6-0, 142
**Others receiving votes:** Richmond 140, Saint Louis 121, Virginia Tech 115, Xavier 55, Oklahoma State 48, Oregon 31, Indiana 22, Florida 18, Arizona State 13, UCLA 9, Connecticut 7, Arizona 5, Syracuse 4, Georgia 4, Arkansas 4, SMU 1, Minnesota 1
