Iowa just missed a return to the top 10, while three other Big Ten teams rounded out the top 5 in this week’s Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.
No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State remained in their positions from last week, followed by Illinois in its return to the top 5 for the second time this season.
Gonzaga and Baylor stayed atop the poll, while Kansas returned to the rankings at No. 23 after a one-week absence.
Coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs received 59 of 64 first-place votes in Monday’s latest AP Top 25, while Scott Drew’s Bears claimed the other five. Those two teams have been 1-2 in all 13 polls this season and also headlined Saturday’s initial rankings for the committee that will select the field of 68 for the NCAA Tournament.
Houston, Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Villanova rounded out the top 10.
No. 14 Creighton had the week’s biggest climb, jumping five spots after a weekend win over Villanova. No. 20 Missouri took the biggest tumble, falling 10 spots after two losses in Southeastern Conference play last week.
The Jayhawks fell out of last week’s poll for the first time in 12 years, but their absence turned out to be a short one. Kansas was one of three new additions to this week’s poll, joined by No. 24 Arkansas — marking the Razorbacks’ first appearance since January 2018 — and No. 25 San Diego State.
Oklahoma State, Purdue and Rutgers fell out of the rankings.
THE RANKINGS
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 14, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking.
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Gonzaga (59) | 20-0 | 1595 | 1 |
| 2. Baylor (5) | 17-0 | 1541 | 2 |
| 3. Michigan | 14-1 | 1469 | 3 |
| 4. Ohio St. | 17-4 | 1402 | 4 |
| 5. Illinois | 14-5 | 1290 | 6 |
| 6. Houston | 17-2 | 1171 | 8 |
| 7. Virginia | 15-3 | 1130 | 9 |
| 8. Alabama | 17-5 | 1086 | 11 |
| 9. Oklahoma | 13-5 | 1072 | 12 |
| 10. Villanova | 13-3 | 1061 | 5 |
| 11. Iowa | 15-6 | 911 | 15 |
| 12. Texas | 13-5 | 886 | 13 |
| 13. West Virginia | 14-6 | 837 | 14 |
| 14. Creighton | 16-5 | 794 | 19 |
| 15. Texas Tech | 14-6 | 792 | 7 |
| 16. Florida St. | 11-3 | 625 | 17 |
| 17. Southern Cal | 17-3 | 587 | 20 |
| 18. Virginia Tech | 14-4 | 514 | 18 |
| 19. Tennessee | 14-5 | 453 | 16 |
| 20. Missouri | 13-5 | 413 | 10 |
| 21. Wisconsin | 15-7 | 274 | 21 |
| 22. Loyola of Chicago | 0-0 | 167 | 22 |
| 23. Kansas | 15-7 | 141 | – |
| 24. Arkansas | 16-5 | 111 | – |
| 25. San Diego St. | 15-4 | 75 | – |
Others receiving votes: Oklahoma St. 71, Rutgers 49, Belmont 47, Louisville 40, Colorado 31, Oregon 30, Drake 22, Purdue 20, Florida 17, Clemson 17, LSU 16, UCLA 11, VCU 10, Saint Louis 5, Xavier 4, Toledo 3, UC Santa Barbara 2, Western Kentucky 2, North Carolina 2, BYU 1, Wichita St. 1, Wright St. 1, Utah St. 1.
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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and https://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap