CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Kansas Jayhawks have risen to No. 1 in Monday’s release of the weekly Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll, following the upset of former No. 1 and previously undefeated Gonzaga last week.
The Jayhawks received 58 first-place votes and 1,618 points, ahead of No. 2 Villanova which got two first place votes and 1,487 points.
No. 3 is UCLA with three first place votes and 1,474 points followed by No. 4 Gonzaga with two first place votes and 1,419 points with North Carolina No. 5.
New to the Top 25 ranks this week are Iowa State and Miami at No. 24 and No. 25.
Elton’s breakdown: Based on what has happened all season, last week’s carnage was no surprise. Three of last week’s top four teams lost … there were 17 losses by 13 teams in the top 25 … four teams lost both games they played last week … five teams have suffered three losses in the last two weeks.
Virginia lost four straight before winning again, and never dropped out of the Top 25?
Elite teams are supposed to be rising at this point in the season, not falling.
That is why the back end of my weekly ballot reads Wichita State, Dayton, Middle Tennessee, Monmouth and Princeton. Dayton is currently on a roll with eight straight wins in the Atlantic 10.
Princeton is one of the few undefeated teams in league play and has won four straight by double digits in the Ivy League. The Tigers have already locked down a share of the league title.
Continuing to reward Wisconsin, Virginia, Creighton and Maryland this late in the season — all teams that have lost three games in two weeks — is not fair to other teams around the country playing good consistent basketball in tough conference play pointing toward the NCAA Tournament.
This week, keep an eye on the ACC, a conference many are projecting to have up to 10 teams slotted for the upcoming NCAA Tournament. That includes Virginia, Virginia Tech and Syracuse.
Sliding Virginia still has seven road wins, including one at Louisville. However, Virginia Tech has only won four road games this season, including an early-season win at Michigan, while Syracuse only has two road wins for the season.
ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 26, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:<
++Record**Pts*Prv
+ 1. Kansas (58) ++*26-3**1618***3
+ 2. Villanova (2) ++*27-3**1487***2
+ 3. UCLA (3) ++*26-3**1474***5
+ 4. Gonzaga (2) ++*29-1**1419***1
+ 5. North Carolina ++*25-5**1381***8
+ 6. Oregon ++*26-4**1343***6
+ 7. Arizona ++*26-4**1223***4
+ 8. Louisville ++*23-6**1176***7
+ 9. Kentucky ++*24-5**1119**11
+10. West Virginia ++*23-6**1041**12
+11. Baylor ++*23-6***923***9
+12. Florida ++*23-6***807**13
+13. Butler ++*23-6***795**22
+14. SMU ++*25-4***738**17
+15. Florida State ++*23-6***722**19
+16. Purdue ++*23-6***651**14
+17. Duke ++*22-7***622**10
+18. Cincinnati ++*25-4***504**15
+19. Notre Dame ++*22-7***482**21
+20. Saint Mary’s ++*26-3***445**20
+21. Wichita State ++*27-4***250**25
+22. Wisconsin ++*22-7***206**16
+23. Virginia ++*19-9***194**18
+24. Iowa State ++*19-9***168**|_
+25. Miami ++*20-8***123**|_
Others receiving votes: Minnesota 66, Oklahoma State 54, Dayton 32, Michigan 14, Middle Tennessee 13, Creighton 12, Southern Cal 7, Michigan State 3, Monmouth 3, Vermont 2, VCU 2, Virginia Tech 2, Arkansas 1, BYU 1, Maryland 1, Princeton 1.
ELTON ALEXANDER’S BALLOT
1. Kansas
2. UCLA
3. Gonzaga
4. Villanova
5. Arizona
6. Oregon
7. North Carolina
8. Kentucky
9. West Virginia
10. Louisville
11. Baylor
12. Florida
13. Purdue
14. Duke
15. SMU
16. Florida State
17. Saint Mary’s
18. Cincinnati
19. Notre Dame
20. Butler
21. Wichita State
22. Dayton
23. Middle Tennessee
24. Monmouth
25. Princeton
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