Top poll steady as Baylor, Kansas set collision course
Baylor and Kansas just keep winning, setting up a monumental showdown Saturday between the top-ranked Bears and No. 3 Jayhawks that could help decide not only the Big 12 title but the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament.
The two teams were separated once again by Gonzaga in the latest college basketball poll from The Associated Press on Monday. The Bears (23-1) had 48 first-place votes from the 63-member media panel, while the Bulldogs (26-1) had 14 first-place nods and the Jayhawks (22-3) had the only remaining first-place vote.
“The best we could be right now is being the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. We’re No. 2,” said Kansas coach Bill Self, whose team beat West Virginia and Oklahoma last week. “The reason we’re not No. 1 is Baylor beat us on our home floor. They deserve it. I’m not looking at it like we haven’t done as well as our record because we’re in second place. I’m looking at it like we played pretty good that day and got beat by a better team, and now we have a chance to get them back.”
“I think it’s a tribute to the players, their belief,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “We’ve been operating under joy … (and) focusing one game at a time and we’ll keep doing that.”
San Diego State (26-0) remained the nation’s last unbeaten team and was No. 4 in the latest poll, while Dayton (23-2) climbed one spot to fifth after wins over Rhode Island and Massachusetts and a rough week for then-No. 5 Louisville.
“I told our team, ‘Let’s get greedy. Let’s play for perfection,’” Aztecs coach Brian Dutcher said. “If we’re this close, we might as well play for a perfect regular season. … Let’s do something special.”
That’s exactly what the Flyers are trying to do, too.
“We’re trying to win a national championship,” Dayton guard Jalen Crutcher said. “We feel like that there’s no team in the country we can’t beat. We feel like we can go and win a national championship, and we talk about that a lot.”
The Cardinals lost to Georgia Tech and Clemson to plummet all the way to No. 11, but they weren’t the only ranked team to lose to an unranked foe on Saturday. Auburn fell at Missouri, Seton Hall lost to Providence, Butler lost at Georgetown, Illinois lost at Rutgers, Houston fell at SMU, Texas Tech fell at Oklahoma State and LSU was beaten on the road by Alabama.
Throw in then-No. 14 West Virginia’s loss to Baylor and nine ranked teams were beaten. Eight lost to unranked opponents, the most in a single day this season.
Women’s poll: UConn’s record streak of top-five appearances in the poll is over.
The Huskies fell to sixth on Monday, ending a run of 253 consecutive weeks as one of the first five teams in the women’s Top 25. That historic stretch dated back to Feb. 5, 2007. Connecticut’s run dwarfs the No. 2 all-time mark of 96 set by Louisiana Tech in the 1980s.
The longest current streak is now held by No. 1 South Carolina at 11. The Gamecocks had a hand in ending the Huskies’ run by routing UConn last Monday night. The Huskies’ three losses this season have come to the Gamecocks, No. 2 Baylor and third-ranked Oregon. South Carolina earned 27 first-place votes from the national media panel. Baylor received two and Oregon one.
UConn’s streak may have continued had fourth-ranked Stanford not had a miracle finish to beat Colorado on Sunday. The Cardinal trailed by three with 12 seconds left when Kiana Williams tied the game. She then stole the ball from Mya Hollingshed and sank a 40-footer at the buzzer.
The Cardinal moved up four spots in the poll. Louisville moved into fifth after knocking off then-No. 4 North Carolina State on Thursday.
Maryland, UCLA, Mississippi State and N.C. State round out the first 10 teams.
Princeton re-entered the Top 25 this week, coming in 25th. Tennessee fell out of the poll.