Baylor climbs to fourth in AP basketball poll

The Baylor men’s basketball team rose to No. 4 in Monday’s Associated Press poll — the secondhighest ranking in school history.

It was the Bears’ highest national ranking since they were No. 3 on Jan. 16, 2012.

Baylor (8-0), unranked at the start of the season, is coming off a 76-61 victory over then-No. 7 Xavier on Saturday. It was the Bears’ third victory over a top 10 team this season after a 66-49 win over then-No. 4 Oregon on Nov. 15 and a 66-63 victory over then-No. 9 Louisville on Nov. 25.

Villanova (8-0) remained No. 1 with 57 first-place votes and was followed by UCLA (9-0), which got two first-place votes; Kansas (7-1); Baylor and Duke (8-1). The Bears received the other six firstplace votes.

In the women’s poll, Connecticut (7-0) is back in a familiar spot, with the Huskies passing Notre Dame (8-0) for the top spot, barely edging the Irish by two points. The rivals will face each other Wednesday at South Bend, Ind. The Huskies’ ascension to the top spot was bolstered with then-No. 3 South Carolina losing to Duke on Sunday.

The Gamecocks fell to sixth with Baylor, Maryland and Mississippi State all moving up a spot.