Gonzaga, Baylor remain atop AP Top 25

Gonzaga, Baylor and Villanova remained atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll Monday, while ninth-ranked Alabama climbed to its highest ranking in 14 years.

Mark Few’s Bulldogs earned 61 of 64 first-place votes in the latest Top 25, while Scott Drew’s Bears claimed the other three. Those two teams have been 1-2 in all 10 polls this season.

Villanova remained third followed by Michigan, with the Wolverines cracking the top five for a second straight season under Juwan Howard after being unranked earlier in the year. Michigan’s rise comes after the school announced a two-week pause in all sports activities due to concerns about a new COVID-19 variant that transmits at a higher rate.

The rest of the top 10 included No. 5 Texas, followed by Houston, Iowa, Virginia, Alabama and Texas Tech.