Kansas now fifth different team at No. 1
It is Kansas’ turn at No. 1 in the Top 25 men’s college basketball poll, and another blueblood — North Carolina — is out for the first time in nearly six years.
The Jayhawks (91) moved up one spot to become the fifth team to top the poll in a wild season. It is the first time the AP poll has had five different No. 1s before New Year’s Day; the record for a season is seven, in 198283.
Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and Louisville have been the other topranked teams.
The Jayhawks, who received 47 of 65 firstplace votes, haven’t lost since falling to Duke in the Champions Classic to open the season.
Kansas head coach Bill Self said his team has “been pretty good and fairly consistent” since the Duke loss.
“I think we are getting better, but still, up until about January, rankings don’t really mean that much,” Self said last week of potentially rising to No. 1.
North Carolina (64) had been ranked for 106 straight weeks dating to February 2014, including starting this year in the top 10 and peaking at No. 5 on Nov. 18.
Losses by four of last week’s top five teams led to a reshuffled top tier.
Gonzaga (111) jumped four spots to No. 2 and earned 15 firstplace votes, with last week’s No. 1 Louisville falling to third after losing to Texas Tech. Duke rose three spots to fourth, followed by Ohio State falling two spots to No. 5 after a loss at Minnesota.
⏩ Terrence Shannon scored 18 points and No. 24 Texas Tech rallied in the second half at home for a 7165 win over Southern Miss after reentering the poll coming off the school’s first win over a topranked team.
⏩ St. Mary’s guard Jordan Ford was named the WCC’s Player of the Week after scoring 32 points in the Gaels’ 8977 win at Cal on Saturday night.