The Kansas men’s basketball team remained in the Associated Press Top 10 this week, falling three spots to No. 9 after a mid-week loss at Oklahoma State last week.
Kansas now has appeared in the AP poll for an NCAA Division I record 229 consecutive weeks, this coming on the same week that fellow blue blood program Duke dropped out of the poll for the first time since 2016.
In fact, neither Duke, Kentucky or North Carolina is ranked in this week’s poll, marking just the 14th time in 1,213-week history of the poll that none of the three were ranked, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The last time it happened was Dec. 18, 1961, when the AP poll consisted of just 10 teams each week.
Unbeaten Gonzaga (14-0) and Baylor (12-0) held onto their spots at the top of the polls, with the Zags losing a first-place vote this week to Baylor.
Villanoava (8-1) also held its spot at No. 3, with Iowa and Texas flipping spots at No. 4 and No. 5.
Texas lost its second game of the season last week to Texas Tech in a thriller in Austin.
Villanova has not played for almost a month (Dec. 23) because of two separate pauses brought about by COVID-19 issues.
Tennessee (10-1) made one of the biggest jumps of the week, climbing to No. 6 from No. 10. Michigan, Houston, KU and Wisconsin round out this week’s Top 10.
No. 12 Texas Tech and No. 14 West Virginia remained the only other Big 12 programs ranked this week. But Oklahoma State, on the strength of its win over Kansas, moved to the brink of cracking the Top 25, picking up 119 votes and sitting at No. 28.
Here’s a look at this week’s complete AP Top 25:
—————————
1 – Gonzaga, 14-0, 1,598 (62)
2 – Baylor, 12-0, 1,538 (2)
3 – Villanova, 8-1, 1,445
4 – Iowa, 12-2, 1,420
5 – Texas, 11-2, 1,289
6 – Tennessee, 10-1, 1,242
7 – Michigan, 11-1, 1,197
8 – Houston, 11-1, 1,155
9 – Kansas, 10-3, 1,072
10 – Wisconsin, 11-3, 939
11 – Creighton, 10-3, 833
12 – Texas Tech, 11-4, 792
13 – Virginia, 9-2, 778
14 – West Virginia, 9-4, 732
15 – Ohio State, 11-3, 631
16 – Virginia Tech, 11-2, 536
17 – Minnesota, 11-4, 507
18 – Alabama, 11-3, 487
19 – Missouri, 8-2, 462
20 – Clemson, 9-2, 354
21 – Oregon, 9-2, 235
22 – Illinois, 9-5, 232
23 – Connecticut, 7-1, 209
24 – UCLA, 11-2, 195
25 – Saint Louis, 7-1, 172
**Others receiving votes:** Louisville 155, Colorado 148, Oklahoma State 119, Florida State 112, USC 74, Duke 43, Drake 42, LSU 20, Boise State 15, Xavier 7, Belmont 5, Michigan State 3, Winthrop 3, Toledo 2, Utah State 1, Purdue 1
