Virginia is unanimous No. 1 in AP Top 25; Michigan up to 7th
RALEIGH, N.C. — Virginia is now the unquestioned No. 1 in the AP Top 25.
The Cavaliers earned all 65 first-place votes in Monday’s poll after finishing four games ahead of the field in the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season race. This was Virginia’s fourth straight week at No. 1, with the Cavaliers acquiring more first-place votes each time until claiming them all this week.
Virginia joined fellow ACC team Duke as teams to be unanimous No. 1 in the AP Top 25 this season. Pretty good for a team that was picked to finish sixth in the ACC during the preseason.
The Cavaliers (28-2, 17-1 ACC) open ACC Tournament play in Thursday’s quarterfinals in Brooklyn with a chance to sweep the league regular-season and tournament titles for the second time in five seasons.
“Now you are in one-and-done tournament play — the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament,” coach Tony Bennett said after Saturday’s win against Notre Dame.
“You continue on, but you understand that it is quality play,” he said. “You do not change who you are, but you know that if you drop one, you are out.”
With Michigan State’s stumble in the Big Ten Tournament, it looked like Xavier was set to move up a spot to No. 2 behind Virginia after winning the Big East regular-season race outright.
Instead, Villanova — which beat the Musketeers this season by 24 and 16 points but finished a game back in the Big East standings — hopped over Xavier from No. 4 while Xavier remained third.