SMU up to No. 12 in AP poll; Baylor moves back into Top 10
Photo courtesy SMU
Kansas, Villanova, UCLA and Gonzaga held onto the top four spots in The Associated Press college basketball poll.
The Jayhawks (28-3) are No. 1 for the second week in a row. They received 59 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel.
Villanova (28-3) was No. 1 on two ballots while UCLA (28-3) got three first-place votes. Gonzaga (30-1) received the other first-place vote.
Oregon and North Carolina exchanged places at fifth and sixth while Arizona stayed seventh.
Kentucky moved up one place to eighth and was followed by Baylor and Louisville.
West Virginia was 11th followed by SMU, Purdue, Duke, Cincinnati, Florida State, Florida, Butler, Saint Mary's and Wichita State.
The last five ranked teams were Virginia, Notre Dame, Iowa State, Wisconsin and Maryland.
Maryland (24-7) returns after being out of the poll for one week. The Terrapins replace Miami (20-10), which lost to Virginia Tech and Florida State in the Hurricanes' first appearance in the poll this season.
The season's final poll will be released March 13.
Even with the loss of Miami, the Atlantic Coast Conference still leads with six ranked teams. The Big 12 is next with four, followed by the Pac-12 and Big Ten with three each.
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Record Pts Prv
1. Kansas (59) 28-3 1619 1
2. Villanova (2) 28-3 1517 2
3. UCLA (3) 28-3 1487 3
4. Gonzaga (1) 30-1 1430 4
5. Oregon 27-4 1364 6
6. North Carolina 26-6 1291 5
7. Arizona 27-4 1252 7
8. Kentucky 26-5 1182 9
9. Baylor 25-6 1084 11
10. Louisville 24-7 1047 8
11. West Virginia 24-7 958 10
12. SMU 27-4 849 14
13. Purdue 25-6 839 16
14. Duke 23-8 667 17
15. Cincinnati 27-4 634 18
16. Florida State 24-7 631 15
17. Florida 24-7 617 12
18. Butler 23-7 538 13
19. Saint Mary's 27-3 456 20
20. Wichita State 30-4 401 21
21. Virginia 21-9 400 23
22. Notre Dame 23-8 394 19
23. Iowa State 20-10 147 24
24. Wisconsin 23-8 139 22
25. Maryland 24-7 47 --