Gonzaga, Villanova and Kansas continue to retain the first, second and third position for the third successive week in the Associated Press College Basketball poll that was released on Monday.
Gonzaga no. 1 for the fourth straight week
Gonzaga is the only unbeaten team in Division I in the college basketball competition and remains in the number 1 slot for the fourth consecutive week. They received a whopping 59 first-place votes on Monday from the 65 member national media panel. Gonzaga has an undefeated 28-0 record this season with two games to go and is looking forward to ending the season on a high note.
Villanova and Kansas hold on to 2nd and 3rd in the weekly poll
Villanova, with a record of 26-2, received 5 first place votes to retain the 2nd position. Kansas, who ended an excellent week with a victory over West Virginia and Baylor, received the remaining one vote.
Arizona the only surprise in Top 5
Baylor, which lost to KU, created an opening in the Top 5 slots, which was taken over by Arizona. Arizona reached the 4th spot ahead of rival UCLA. Baylor slipped to the 9th rank and Kentucky is now in the 10th position.
Wichita State makes its first appearance in Top 25
For the first time this season, Wichita State appeared in the top 25 in this week’s poll. The Shockers replaced South Carolina after extending their winning streak to 10 games.
At the moment, with a score of 15-1, they are tied with Illinois State for the first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
South Carolina fell out of the top 25 list after a 5 weeks run in the list of top 25 teams. They lost two crucial matches last week against Vanderbilt and Arkansas. In Monday’s poll, Notre Dame was ranked 21st, climbing 4 positions.
Butler was at the 22nd position and Creighton at the 23rd position, while Maryland and Wichita State occupied the 24th and 25th position respectively.
Crucial games coming up for Villanova and Kansas
Villanova, the team ranked second in the polls, has two crucial games coming this week. They played against Butler on Wednesday and will play Creighton on Saturday.
If they can continue their winning streak, they should easily hold onto their 2nd spot. Kansas also has key games coming up that they would love to win to retain the position in the top 3.
Villanova and Kansas need to win this week in order to maintain their ranking, and if Gonzaga loses against either San Diego or BYU, they stand a chance to move up in the standings and oust the currently unbeaten Zags.
