Villanova Jumps Kansas, Moves Back To No. 1 In AP Poll
VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) -- Villanova returned to No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll Monday, leapfrogging Kansas after a week out of the top spot.
The Wildcats (17-1), who fell to third last week after five weeks as No. 1, moved back on top following No. 1 Baylor's loss in its only week ever as a top-ranked team.
Villanova received 28 first-place votes and 1,580 points from the 65-member national media panel while Kansas (16-1) remained No. 2
despite getting more first-place votes than the Wildcats. The Jayhawks had 32 No. 1 votes and 1,562 points.
Villanova beat Xavier and St. John's last week while Kansas swept Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.
UCLA (18-1) moved up one place to third and received three first-place votes. Gonzaga (17-0), the only unbeaten team in Division I, went from fifth to fourth and had the other two No. 1 votes.
Kentucky moved up one place to fifth and was followed by Baylor, West Virginia and Creighton, which were tied for seventh, North Carolina and Florida State.
South Carolina and Maryland are the week's newcomers, replacing Minnesota and Kansas State and Southern California, which were tied for 25th.
Oregon is 11th followed by Louisville, Butler, Arizona, Notre Dame, Virginia, Wisconsin, Duke, Florida and Cincinnati.
The last five ranked teams are Purdue, Xavier, Saint Mary's, South Carolina and Maryland.
South Carolina and Maryland were both ranked earlier in the season. The Gamecocks (14-3) were ranked for four weeks reaching as high as No. 16 and the Terrapins (16-2) were 25th in the preseason poll.
Minnesota and Kansas State were both ranked for the first time this season last week and both lost two games. The Golden Gophers lost to
Michigan State and Penn State while the Wildcats fell to Texas Tech and Baylor.
Southern Cal, which was ranked for the last five weeks, lost to Utah and beat Colorado.
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