While Gonzaga and Baylor remain firmly at the top of the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, Shaka Smart and Texas in the fourth position also push a push in the rankings’ highest level.
The best Zags and Bears in second place stayed 1-2 in the final 25 of Monday as they were all season. But the Longhorns scored four points after a sudden weekend victory in Kansas to achieve the program’s highest rankings under their sixth-year coach, as well as the first top-5 rankings since February 2011.
“If it’s the highlight on Jan. 2, it’s going to be really disappointing,” Smart said after the 84-59 victory over the Jayhawks. “It simply came to our notice then. I asked the guys in the locker room if that was just all they wanted. It’s clearly a rhetorical question: they want more. ‘ Texas (8-1) finished the year at no. 19 started and has not cracked the top 10 under Smart before the season. The Longhorns have yet to beat the top five as they have been at number 3 for three weeks, followed by a week at number 5 in February 2011 under former coach Rick Barnes.
THE UPPER TIGER
Mark Few’s Bulldogs earned 63 out of 64 votes in the poll on Monday, while Scott Drew’s Bears scored the other vote. Gonzaga and Baylor have been 1-2 up front in all seven polls so far this season.
Villanova climbed one spot to number 3 on the same day when the program announced a halt in team activities due to coronavirus problems.
Iowa, Kansas, Creighton, Wisconsin, Tennessee and Michigan rounded out the top 10, while number 11 in Houston and no. 14 in West Virginia from the group last week.
RISE
The Wolverines (9-0) had the biggest jump of the week and took six places after victories against Maryland and the then no. 19 Northwest. Michigan has now beaten the top 10 in each of Juwan Howard’s two seasons as coach, including last year’s rapid rise from unclassified to No. 4 after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.
Iowa, no. 16 in Minnesota and no. 19 Virginia Tech, each climbed five places, while no. 17 Oregon joined Texas and Creighton in four places.
A total of 10 teams climbed from last week’s rankings.
Slide
Nr. 25 Florida State had the biggest tumble of the week, with seven places after losing to Clemson and then his game against no. 21 Duke postponed due to coronavirus problems in the Seminoles program.
Houston and no. 23 in Michigan State each scored six points, while Texas Tech 18 joined West Virginia to move five spots.
6, Kansas, fell three places after the Texas defeat, bringing the total of the teams that fell from last week’s rankings to 11.
STATUS QUO
Gonzaga and Baylor were the only teams to occupy their positions from last week.
WELCOME
Nr. 19 Clemson was back in the poll for the second time this season and joined the competitive team from the Atlantic Coast Conference Virginia Tech. The other new addition was Saint Louis, with the Equities tying Michigan State at No. 23 to make their first AP Top 25 appearance since the 2013-14 season.
FAREWELL (NOW)
Northwest (No. 19) and the state of Ohio (No. 25) fall out of the vote to make way for Clemson and Saint Louis.
CONFERENCE VIEW
The Big Ten still has the largest number of ranked teams, although the Big 12 has a strong performance in the polls’ highest level.
The Big Ten has seven teams ranked, including three in the top-10 along with No. 12 in Illinois and no. 15 Rutgers. But the Big 12 has three of the top six teams in Baylor, Texas and Kansas, and five teams overall.
The ACC also has five teams, but that’s a lot of reloads again. The Tigers and Hokies are the highest ranked of that quintet at number 19, followed by Duke, no. 22 Virginia and no. 25 FSU.
The Big East (Villanova and Creighton) and the Southeastern Conference (Tennessee and No. 13 Missouri) are the only other leagues with multiple teams.