Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga, North Carolina Latest Projected No. 1 Seeds Per Lunardi
Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga and North Carolina are
Villanova, Kansas, Gonzaga and North Carolina are
By JIM O’CONNELL
For the third straight week, Gonzaga, Villanova and Kansas are the top three teams in The Associated Press college basketball poll.
It is the fourth week at No. 1 for Gonzaga (28-0), the only unbeaten team in Division I. The Zags received 59 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel on Monday.
Villanova (26-2) received five first-place votes and Kansas (24-3), which beat West Virginia and Baylor last week, got the other No. 1 vote.
Gonzaga, Villanova and Kansas remained the top three teams in the new Associated Press Top 25 poll released on Monday.
Baylor moved up to No. 4 and Arizona to No. 5, while Louisville dropped to No. 8.
The ACC had six teams in the poll, with No. 8 Louisville, No. 10 North Carolina, No. 12 Duke, No. 14 Virginia, No. 17 Florida State and No. 25 Notre DAme.
The Big East is down to three with Villanova, No. 20 Creighton and No. 24 Butler. Xavier dropped out.
AP Poll
1. Gonzaga (26-0)
2. Villanova (24-2)
3. Kansas (22-3)
4. Baylor (22-3)
5. Arizona (23-3)
6. UCLA (23-3)
7. Oregon (22-3)
8. Louisville (20-5)
9. West Virginia (20-5)
10. North Carolina (21-5)
11. Wisconsin (21-4)
12. Duke (20-5)
13. Kentucky (20-5)
14. Virginia (18-6)
15. Florida (20-5)
16. Purdue (20-5)
17. Florida State (21-5)
18. Cincinnati (22-3)
19. SMU (22-4)
20. Creighton (21-4)
21. South Carolina (21-5)
22. Saint Mary’s (22-3)
23. Maryland (21-4)
24. Butler (19-6)
25. Notre Dame (19-7)
By JOHN MARSHALL The NCAA Tournament selection committee
Kentucky is the new favorite to win the NCAA title, followed by Gonzaga, Kansas and UNC, per Bovada.
Odds to win the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
1/6/17 Current Odds (2/1/17)
Kentucky 6/1 11/2
Gonzaga 20/1 15/2
Kansas 11/1 8/1
North Carolina 11/1 9/1
By JIM O’CONNELL
Gonzaga, the last unbeaten team in Division I, moved to No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll for the second time in school history.
The Zags (22-0) jumped up from third when Villanova and Kansas both were beaten in a week when seven of the top 10 lost.
Gonzaga received 46 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel Monday. The Zags were No. 1 for the last three weeks of the 2012-13 season.
Gonzaga is the fifth team to reach No. 1 this season joining Duke, Kentucky, Villanova and Baylor.
Baylor (20-1), one of the three top 10 teams to not lose, jumped from fifth to second. The Bears had six first-place votes and were one point ahead of Kansas (19-2), which dropped one place after losing at West Virginia before winning at Kentucky. The Jayhawks had nine first-place votes.
Villanova, which had been No. 1 for the last two weeks and six overall, dropped to fourth after losing at Marquette. The Wildcats (20-2), who also had a last-second win over Virginia, were No. 1 on four ballots.
Northwestern (18-4) is the week’s lone newcomer. The Wildcats were last ranked for one week in 2009-10.
Arizona, the other top 10 team to get through the week without a loss, moved from seventh to fifth and was followed by Louisville, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Wisconsin.
UCLA was 11th and was followed by North Carolina, Oregon, Cincinnati, Florida State, Butler, Maryland, Saint Mary’s, South Carolina and Notre Dame.
The last five ranked teams were Duke, Creighton, Purdue, Florida and Northwestern.
Xavier (15-6), which has lost four of six with all the losses to ranked teams, dropped out from 24th. The Musketeers, who had been ranked for the last 29 polls, were seventh in the preseason voting.
West Virginia, which beat Kansas and Texas A&M, had the week’s biggest jump from 18th to No. 7. Louisville, which beat Pittsburgh and North Carolina State by an average of 40 points, moved from 13th to No. 6.
Florida State’s fall from sixth to No. 15 followed the Seminoles’ losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse. Kentucky also lost twice last week — to Tennessee and Kansas — and the Wildcats dropped from fourth to eighth.
AP Poll
1. Gonzaga (22-0)
2. Baylor (20-1)
3. Kansas (19-2)
4. Villanova (20-2)
5. Arizona (20-2)
6. Louisville (18-4)
7. West Virginia (17-4)
7. Kentucky (17-4)
9. Virginia (16-4)
10. Wisconsin (18-3)
11. UCLA (19-3)
12. North Carolina (19-4)
13. Oregon (19-3)
14. Cincinnati (19-2)
15. Florida State (18-4)
16. Butler (18-4)
17. Maryland (19-2)
18. St. Mary’s (19-2)
19. South Carolina (17-4)
20. Notre Dame (17-5)
21. Duke (16-5)
22. Creighton (19-3)
23. Purdue (17-5)
24. Florida (16-5)
25. Northwestern (18-4)
