Oklahoma replaces KU as new No. 1 team in college basketball
Oklahoma ascended to No. 1 in The Associated Press basketball poll for the first time since the days of Billy Tubbs.
The Sooners received all 65 first-place votes in the AP poll. Oklahoma is also top-ranked in the USA Today coaches’ poll. Kansas is third in both.
This marks the first time a Lon Kruger-coached team is ranked first. Kruger, a former Kansas State star guard, is in his fifth season at Norman and previously coached in college at UNLV, Illinois, Florida, K-State and Texas-Pan American.
“It’s great,” Kruger said, “It’s not something our guys focus on necessarily every day or think about or even have a lot of conversation about, but they’re fans… we all are, and it’s great.”
Oklahoma was last ranked No. 1 on March 13, 1990, winning the final No. 1 ranking of the season. That team, which lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, had one player on the roster who played more than handful of games in the NBA, and guard Brent Price was sitting out that season after transferring from South Carolina.
The lone loss for the Sooners, 15-1, this season came at Kansas, a 109-106 decision in triple overtime, Saturday, Oklahoma defeated West Virginia, which is No. 6 in the AP poll.
Just as they did in 1990, the Sooners replace Kansas at No. 1. The Jayhawks held the top spot for two weeks before falling at West Virginia the previous Monday.
Oklahoma becomes the second Big 12 team besides Kansas to hold a No. 1 ranking in Big 12 history (starting 1996-97). Texas was top-ranked for two weeks in 2010.
AP Top 25
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Oklahoma (65) | 15-1 | 1,625 | 2 |
2. North Carolina | 16-2 | 1,515 | 5 |
3. Kansas | 15-2 | 1,499 | 1 |
4. Villanova | 16-2 | 1,403 | 6 |
5. Xavier | 16-1 | 1,321 | 7 |
6. West Virginia | 15-2 | 1,278 | 11 |
7. Maryland | 16-2 | 1,259 | 3 |
8. SMU | 17-0 | 1,179 | 10 |
9. Iowa | 14-3 | 1,167 | 16 |
10. Texas A&M | 15-2 | 994 | 15 |
11. Michigan State | 16-3 | 950 | 4 |
12. Arizona | 15-3 | 801 | 18 |
13. Baylor | 14-3 | 649 | 22 |
13. Virginia | 13-4 | 649 | 13 |
15. Miami, Fla. | 13-3 | 645 | 8 |
16. Providence | 15-3 | 609 | 12 |
17. Louisville | 14-3 | 608 | 21 |
18. Butler | 13-4 | 439 | 23 |
19. Iowa State | 13-4 | 411 | 17 |
20. Duke | 14-4 | 375 | 9 |
21. Southern California | 15-3 | 338 | — |
22. Purdue | 15-3 | 322 | 24 |
23. Kentucky | 13-4 | 276 | 14 |
24. South Carolina | 16-1 | 252 | 19 |
25. Indiana | 15-3 | 210 | — |
Others receiving votes: Pittsburgh 184, Clemson 53, Wichita State 38, Valparaiso 30, Notre Dame 14, Dayton 9, Saint Mary’s, Calif., 8, Gonzaga 5, Hawaii 3, Utah 3, Monmouth, N.J. 1, Navy 1, Oregon 1, Arkansas-Little Rock 1.
Tod Palmer’s ballot: 1. Oklahoma, 2. North Carolina, 3. Kansas, 4. Villanova, 5. Xavier, 6. Iowa, 7. Maryland, 8. West Virginia, 9. SMU, 10. Arizona, 11. Texas A&M, 12. Michigan State, 13. Providence, 14. Virginia, 15. Miami, Fla., 16. Butler, 17. Baylor, 18. Iowa State, 19. Southern California, 20. Duke, 21. Kentucky, 22. Louisville, 23. Purdue, 24. South Carolina, 25. Valparaiso.
This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 1:23 PM with the headline "Oklahoma replaces KU as new No. 1 team in college basketball."