Kansas Jayhawks basketball drops five spots in AP poll after 18-point loss to Kentucky
Kansas, which lost to Kentucky by 18 points and defeated Texas Tech in double overtime last week in a pair of home games, has dropped from No. 5 to No. 10 in this week’s Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.
Auburn, which took over the top spot in the poll last week for the first time in school history, remained No. 1 after beating Oklahoma 86-68 on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.
Auburn (20-1) was followed in the poll by Gonzaga (17-2), UCLA (16-2), Purdue (18-3), Kentucky (17-4), Houston (18-2), Arizona (17-2), Baylor (18-3), Duke (17-3), KU (17-3), Wisconsin (17-3), Villanova (16-5), Michigan State (16-4), Texas Tech (16-5), Providence (18-2), Ohio State (13-5), UConn (15-4), Illinois (15-5), USC (18-3), Iowa State (16-5), Xavier (15-5), Tennessee (14-6), Texas (16-5), Marquette (15-7) and LSU (16-5).
Others receiving votes: Alabama 97, Murray State 42, Saint Mary’s 32, Boise State 32, Miami (Florida) 29, Indiana 22, Davidson 10, Arkansas 7, Iowa 6, Iona 6, TCU 4, Notre Dame 4, Loyola Chicago 4, Colorado State 3 and Toledo 1.
Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers were awarded 49 of 61 first-place votes. Gonzaga received the other 12 first-place votes. Auburn has won 17 straight games since losing to UConn in double overtime in November.
Kentucky’s 80-62 victory over KU led to the Wildcats moving from No. 12 to No., 5. It’s Kentucky’s highest ranking since the 2019-20 season when UK was No. 1 in the first regular-season poll and No. 5 in March.
KU this week will face a pair of ranked teams. KU travels to Iowa State on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. tip. KU will play host to Baylor at 3 p.m. Saturday.
