University of Kansas

Jayhawks gain a spot in basketball polls


Kansas forwards Cliff Alexander (left) and Jamari Traylor celebrated during a timeout in the second half against UNLV on Sunday. The Jayhawks defeated UNLV 76-61.
Kansas forwards Cliff Alexander (left) and Jamari Traylor celebrated during a timeout in the second half against UNLV on Sunday. The Jayhawks defeated UNLV 76-61. The Associated Press

Kansas moved up one spot to No. 12 in The Associated Press poll and No. 13 in the USA Today coaches’ poll on Monday.

For the fifth straight week, Kentucky is the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Top 25.

The Wildcats (13-0) got all 64 first-place votes cast Monday in The AP poll after having the week off, and have been atop the rankings all season. Kentucky hasn’t played since beating Louisville on Dec. 27 and returns Tuesday against Mississippi.

Duke received one first-place vote in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

The top five remained unchanged, with Duke, Virginia, Wisconsin and Louisville behind Kentucky.

Wichita State rose one spot to No. 15 in both polls.

Texas is the highest-ranked Big 12 team at No. 10 in both polls. In the AP poll, West Virginia is No. 14, Oklahoma is No. 16, and Iowa State dropped eight spots to No. 17 after losing to South Carolina on Saturday. Baylor is No. 21.

Seton Hall, VCU, Arkansas and Old Dominion were new arrivals to the Top 25, with the No. 19 Pirates (12-2) the highest of that group after upsetting then-unbeaten Villanova over the weekend. For the No. 25 Monarchs (12-1), it marked their first appearance in program history. Washington, Colorado State, Northern Iowa and Georgetown dropped out of the poll.

The Associated Press poll

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 4, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week’s ranking:

Record

Pts

Prv

1. Kentucky (64)

13-0

1,600

1

2. Duke

13-0

1,535

2

3. Virginia

13-0

1,446

3

4. Wisconsin

14-1

1,397

4

5. Louisville

13-1

1,322

5

6. Gonzaga

14-1

1,275

7

7. Arizona

13-1

1,260

8

8. Villanova

13-1

1,089

6

9. Utah

12-2

1,059

10

10. Texas

12-2

976

11

11. Maryland

14-1

966

12

12. Kansas

11-2

884

13

13. Notre Dame

14-1

775

14

14. West Virginia

13-1

712

17

15. Wichita St.

12-2

686

16

16. Oklahoma

10-3

674

18

17. Iowa St.

10-2

663

9

18. North Carolina

11-3

591

19

19. Seton Hall

12-2

448

20. VCU

11-3

311

21. Baylor

11-2

186

22

22. Ohio St.

12-3

184

20

23. Arkansas

11-2

103

24. St. John’s

11-3

92

15

25. Old Dominion

12-1

80

Others receiving votes: N. Iowa 72, Iowa 63, Butler 53, LSU 50, George Washington 39, TCU 33, Temple 33, Colorado St. 31, Stanford 29, South Carolina 16, Washington 13, Wyoming 11, Indiana 9, Oklahoma St. 9, Georgetown 7, Cincinnati 6, Dayton 5, BYU 3, Xavier 2, Davidson 1, Hofstra 1.

USA Today poll

The top 25 teams in the USA Today men’s college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 4, points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Record

Pts

Pvs

1. Kentucky (31)

13-0

799

1

2. Duke (1)

13-0

768

2

3. Virginia

13-0

727

3

4. Wisconsin

14-1

703

4

5. Louisville

13-1

649

6

6. Arizona

13-1

634

7

7. Gonzaga

14-1

628

8

8. Villanova

13-1

546

5

9. Maryland

14-1

497

11

10. Texas

12-2

478

10

11. Utah

12-2

470

12

12. Notre Dame

14-1

441

13

13. Kansas

11-2

420

14

14. West Virginia

13-1

381

15

15. Wichita State

12-2

320

16

16. Iowa State

10-2

317

9

17. North Carolina

11-3

297

20

18. Oklahoma

9-3

279

21

19. Seton Hall

12-2

172

20. Ohio State

12-3

142

18

21. VCU

11-3

135

22. Baylor

11-2

105

22

23. Northern Iowa

12-2

60

23

24. St. John’s

11-3

55

17

25. Arkansas

11-2

50

Others receiving votes: Colorado State 35, Georgetown 35, Old Dominion 33, Washington 32, Oklahoma State 27, Indiana 20, Stanford 20, San Diego State 18, TCU 18, Butler 16, Iowa 14, LSU 12, South Carolina 12, George Washington 9, Cincinnati 7, Georgia 4, California 3, Dayton 3, Minnesota 3, Temple 2, BYU 1, Oregon 1, Saint Mary’s 1, Wyoming 1.

This story was originally published January 5, 2015 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Jayhawks gain a spot in basketball polls."

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