Despite blowout over Missouri, Kansas basketball drops in latest AP Top 25
The Kansas men’s basketball team, which went 1-0 last week, nonetheless has dropped two spots — from No. 6 to No. 8 — in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.
Playing their first game in nine days, the Jayhawks drilled Missouri 95-67 on Saturday at Mizzou Arena to improve to 9-1 on the season. However, No. 1 Houston and No. 2 Texas both lost for the first time in the 2022-23 season, causing some reshuffling of the top teams in the poll.
Purdue (10-0) jumped three spots and is the country’s new No. 1 team with 27 first-place votes. Virginia (8-0) is No. 2 with 19 firsts.
UConn (11-0) is No. 3 with 15 firsts followed by Alabama (8-1) and Houston (9-1) in the top five — and Tennessee (9-1), Texas (7-1), KU (9-1), Arizona (8-1) and Arkansas (9-1) to round out the top 10. Tennessee received one first-place vote.
Baylor is No. 11 followed by Duke (12), Kentucky (13), Indiana (14), Gonzaga (15), UCLA (16), Mississippi State (17), Illinois (18), Auburn (19), Maryland (20), TCU (21), Wisconsin (22), Ohio State (23), Virginia Tech (24) and Miami (FL, 25).
Indiana, KU’s next opponent (11 a.m., Saturday, Allen Fieldhouse), remained No. 14 after a week in which it defeated Nebraska then lost to Arizona.
Kansas State received two votes and was the last of 19 teams in the “others receiving votes” category. Missouri is no longer receiving votes after the loss to KU.
The No. 1-ranked Boilermakers defeated West Virginia, Gonzaga and Duke to win the Phil Knight Legacy tournament earlier in the season. Purdue defeated Hofstra and Nebraska last week. Purdue was No. 1 for the first time in school history in Week 4 last season but lost to Rutgers after ascending to the top spot.
Alabama knocked off previous No. 1 Houston 71-65 on Saturday. The Crimson Tide on Nov. 27 also defeated then-No. 1 North Carolina. Thus the Tide became the second team — with Oklahoma in 1990 — to beat two No. 1 teams in the same season. The Crimson Tide moved up four spots in this week’s poll.
Creighton exited the poll after reaching No. 7 earlier this season. The Bluejays, ranked 21st last week, have lost four consecutive games. Iowa State also dropped out from No. 20 after losing to Iowa. San Diego State fell out from No. 22 after losing to Saint Mary’s in Phoenix.
• The Associated Press contributed to this report
This story was originally published December 12, 2022 at 12:29 PM.
