Top 4 remain unchanged, Jayhawks still 3rd in latest AP poll

By Matt Tait     Feb 3, 2020

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Kansas guard Devon Dotson (1) puts up a three from the corner against Texas Tech guard Jahmi'us Ramsey (3) during the first half, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020 at Allen Fieldhouse.

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.*

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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.