The Kansas men’s basketball team officially finished the regular season ranked No. 11 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, which was released Monday.
KU, which fell out of the poll altogether for the first time in 12 years a few weeks ago, is now just five spots behind the No. 6 spot where it opened the regular season.
The Jayhawks, who knocked off UTEP in come-from-behind fashion in the regular season finale last Thursday at Allen Fieldhouse, moved up two spots in the final AP poll before the postseason.
At 19-8 overall and 12-6 in Big 12 play, the Jayhawks finished second behind Baylor in the Big 12 standings and will be the No. 2 seed in this week’s Big 12 tournament at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo.
KU will open Big 12 tourney play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s 7-10 matchup between Oklahoma and Iowa State.
Baylor, which spent nearly the entire season ranked No. 2 in the AP poll was back in the runner-up spot on Monday after falling to No. 3 following a late-season loss at Kansas. That setback is the only blemish on Baylor’s record so far this season.
The Bears even picked up two first-place votes this week after receiving none a week ago.
Big Ten programs Illinois, Michigan and Iowa rounded out this week’s top five, with Alabama, Houston, Arkansas, Ohio State and West Virginia coming in just ahead of Kansas in spots 6-10.
In all, seven programs from the Big 12 are ranked this week, with Baylor, WVU and KU topping the list. Oklahoma State (12th), Texas (13th), Texas Tech (20th) and Oklahoma (25th) also are ranked this week.
All seven programs are considered locks to make this year’s NCAA Tournament when the field of 68 is announced on Sunday.
Here’s a look at the rest of the final AP poll of the regular season.
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1 – Gonzaga, 24-0, 1,573 (61)
2 – Baylor, 21-1, 1,510 (2)
3 – Illinois, 20-6, 1,438
4 – Michigan, 19-3, 1,382
5 – Iowa, 20-7, 1,314
6 – Alabama, 21-6, 1,239
7 – Houston, 21-3, 1,173
8 – Arkansas, 21-5, 1,046
9 – Ohio State, 18-8, 1,032
10 – West Virginia, 18-8, 919
11 – Kansas, 19-8, 873
12 – Oklahoma State, 18-7, 851
13 – Texas, 17-7, 802
14 – Villanova, 16-5, 729
15 – Florida State, 15-5, 687
16 – Virginia, 17-6, 531
17 – Creighton, 18-7, 510
18 – Loyola Chicago, 24-4, 488
19 – San Diego State, 20-4, 462
20 – Texas Tech, 17-9, 389
20 – Purdue, 18-8, 389
22 – Virginia Tech, 15-5, 266
23 – Colorado, 20-7, 209
24 – USC, 21-6, 175
25 – Oklahoma, 14-9, 172
**Others receiving votes:** BYU 93, Oregon 67, Connecticut 53, Clemson 25, Wisconsin 24, Tennessee 14, Wichita State 13, St. Bonaventure 11, Winthrop 7, Virginia Commonwealth 4, LSU 2, San Diego 1, Michigan State 1, UC Santa Barbara 1
