The Kansas men’s basketball team held its spot at No. 3 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday and the Jayhawks also held on to their lone first place vote.
No. 1 Baylor, meanwhile, extended its lead over KU and Gonzaga at the top of the poll.
The Bears received 49 of 65 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to stay comfortably ahead of Gonzaga and Kansas. That was up from 44 first-place votes from the previous week, with the Bears securing a third consecutive week atop the rankings.
Nos. 1-4 remained unchanged a week after the top seven teams held their rankings from the previous week, continuing a stretch of stability there in what has been an unpredictable season with a record-tying seven different teams reaching No. 1 in the poll.
The Zags – who earned 15 first-place votes after having 19 a week earlier – spent four weeks atop the poll and went 7-0 during their stint at No. 1 before the Bears jumped past them.
Before that, Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke, Louisville and Kansas had all appeared at No. 1. None lasted more than two weeks or won more than twice before suffering a loss that knocked them out of the top spot.
KU, which knocked off Oklahoma State on the road and Texas Tech at home last week, now has been ranked in 214 consecutive AP Top 25 polls, bringing the Jayhawks closer to eclipsing UCLA’s all-time record of 221 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25.
**THE TOP TIER**
Atlantic Coast Conference leader Louisville climbed a spot to No. 5, followed by Dayton, Duke, Florida State and Maryland – which jumped six spots to No. 9 after beating Iowa last week for its fourth straight win. Villanova rounded out the top 10.
**RISING**
No. 11 Auburn joined the Terrapins as the week’s biggest riser, jumping six spots after beating Kentucky over the weekend for the Tigers’ fourth consecutive victory. No. 18 LSU also had a significant bump, rising four spots after pushing its winning streak to 10 games. In all, eight teams moved up in Monday’s poll.
**SLIDING**
No. 24 Colorado and No. 25 Houston were the week’s biggest sliders, each falling four spots after league losses. Florida State, No. 14 Oregon and 19 Butler each fell three spots, which continued a big slide for the Bulldogs after they were ranked as high as No. 5 in mid-January. Eleven teams fell in Monday’s poll.
**STATUS QUO**
The top four teams were the only ones to hold their positions from last week.
**WELCOME (BACK)**
No. 21 Creighton and No. 23 Arizona were this week’s new additions to the poll, though both had been ranked previously. The Bluejays, who were ranked 25th for a week last month, moved back into the poll after beating Villanova in the Big East. The Wildcats have twice fallen out after appearing in each of the first 10 polls.
**FAREWELL FOR NOW**
Wichita State (No. 23) and Rutgers (No. 25) fell out of the poll.
**CONFERENCE WATCH**
The Big Ten had a national-best five teams in the poll, including No. 16 Michigan State, No. 17 Iowa, No. 20 Illinois and No. 22 Penn State. The Big East was next with four, while the Atlantic Coast, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern conferences all had three each.
Here’s a look at this week’s complete AP poll:
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1 – Baylor, 19-1, 1,608 (49)
2 – Gonzaga, 23-1, 1,567 (15)
3 – Kansas, 18-3, 1,472 (1)
4 – San Diego State, 23-0, 1,447
5 – Louisville, 19-3, 1,352
6 – Dayton, 20-2, 1,271
7 – Duke, 18-3, 1,242
8 – Florida State, 18-3, 1,188
9 – Maryland, 17-4, 999
10 – Villanova, 17-4, 959
11 – Auburn, 19-2, 926
12 – Seton Hall, 16-5, 900
13 – West Virginia, 17-4, 827
14 – Oregon, 18-5, 758
15 – Kentucky, 16-5, 758
16 – Michigan State, 16-6, 624
17 – Iowa, 16-6, 604
18 – LSU, 17-4, 572
19 – Butler, 17-5, 437
20 – Illinois, 16-6, 373
21 – Creighton, 17-5, 372
22 – Penn State, 16-5, 356
23 – Arizona, 15-6, 164
24 – Colorado, 17-5, 134
25 – Houston, 17-5, 85
**Others receiving votes:** Texas Tech 66, Marquette 31, Ohio State 19, Tulsa 19, Rhode Island 18, Northern Iowa 17, Wichita State 17, BYU 14, Rutgers 12, Stanford 7, Stephen F. Austin 3, Winthrop 1, Yale 1, Michigan 1, Bowling Green 1, Virginia 1.
*- The Associated Press contributed to this report.*