Baylor jumps Zags to No. 1

Baylor and Gonzaga were the only two teams in the top five that took care of business last week.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t move around, too.

The Bears leaped over the Bulldogs and into the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll Monday, using wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State to give the Top 25 its seventh team on top this season. That matches the record set in 1983 for the most No. 1s in the history of the poll, which dates to the 1948-49 season.

In its first game at No. 1 on Monday night, Baylor (16-1, 6-0 Big 12) beat visiting Oklahoma 61-57.

Gonzaga (20-1) was merely a victim of its conference schedule. The Bulldogs blew out Santa Clara and BYU, but just enough voters considered those wins to be less impressive than the Bears’ perfect Big 12 start. Baylor received 33 first-place votes and had 1,591 points, while Gonzaga got 31 first-place votes for 1,588 points.

The rest of the top five looks different after Duke, Auburn and Butler all lost both of their games last week.

Kansas (14-3) rose three spots to No. 3 after victories over Oklahoma and Texas, the latter requiring a big comeback in Austin.

San Diego State (19-0) remained perfect with wins over Fresno State and Nevada, and Florida State (16-2) barged into the fifth spot after it beat reigning national champion Virginia and survived overtime to best Miami.