Even after beating Michigan State, KU drops to No. 2 in AP basketball poll
Kansas’ basketball team has dropped from No. 1 to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll despite winning its only game last week.
Duke jumped from No. 4 to No. 1 in Monday’s first regular-season men’s poll following the Blue Devils’ 34-point victory over then-No. 2 Kentucky last Tuesday at the Champions Classic in Indianapolis.
KU defeated Michigan State 92-87 at the Classic.
The Blue Devils, who also beat Army 94-72 on Sunday, claimed 48 of 65 first-place votes and compiled 1,606 points to KU’s 1,571 points.
According to KPI Sports, this is the fourth time in poll history the preseason No. 1 fell from the top spot in the next week’s poll without losing.
In 1983-84, North Carolina was replaced by Kentucky; in 1980-81 Kentucky was replaced by DePaul and in 1977-78, North Carolina was replaced by Kentucky.
Duke has set a record with its 135th week at No. 1, breaking a tie with UCLA.
Gonzaga placed third in this week’s poll, followed by Virginia and Tennessee. Nevada, North Carolina, Villanova and Auburn were next, while Kentucky slid eight spots to No. 10. Michigan State dropped one slot to No. 11. Kansas State remained at No. 12.
There were two new teams in the poll — No. 24 Marquette and No. 25 Buffalo, which defeated West Virginia and advanced into the poll for the first time. The Mountaineers, who were ranked No. 13 in the preseason, fell out of the poll after the loss.
KU coach Bill Self on Friday was asked about the Blue Devils’ season-opening 118-84 win over Kentucky.
“I told our guys yesterday we did nothing — nothing — to take away from what people thought about us from a preseason standpoint,” Self said, “but Duke added a lot to what people thought about them as a preseason team. That’s fine. It’s a long season. Certainly what they did — even though I haven’t seen the game — what they did was impressive. That would get anybody’s attention.”
Kansas (1-0) will meet (1-0) Vermont at 8 p.m. Monday in Allen Fieldhouse.
AP Top 25 basketball poll
1. Duke (48) 1,606 points
2. Kansas (14) 1,571
3. Gonzaga 1,478
4. Virginia (2) 1,326
5. Tennessee (1) 1,306
6. Nevada 1,277
7. North Carolina 1,260
8. Villanova 1,139
9. Auburn 1,132
10. Kentucky 1,054
11. Michigan State 919
12. Kansas State 892
13. Oregon 739
14. Florida State 731
15. Syracuse 673
16. Virginia Tech 664
17. Mississippi State 549
18. Michigan 486
19. Clemson 350
20. UCLA 340
21. TCU 323
22. LSU 248
23. Purdue 218
24. Marquette 155
25. Buffalo 154
Others receiving votes: West Virginia 145, Indiana 131, Nebraska 41, Wisconsin 32, Washington 29, Maryland 28, Notre Dame 24, Miami (Fla.) 16, Ohio State 14, Alabama 11, Iowa State 9, Florida 9, Louisville 8, Texas 6, Texas Tech 5, Arizona St 4, Butler 4, Vanderbilt 4, Loyola Chicago 3, Arizona 2, St. John’s 2, Marshall 2, Xavier 2, Penn 1, Furman 1, Davidson 1, Southern Illinois 1.
Gary Bedore
Gary Bedore covers University of Kansas athletics for The Star.
