Baylor lands No. 1 Spot, Leads 5 Big 12 teams in AP Top 25
The Baylor Bears, who beat Villanova on Sunday, are the nation’s No. 1 team in the latest Associated Press Men’s Basketball Top 25, released on Monday.
The AP Top 25 included the following Big 12 teams:
No. 1 Baylor (up one spot from last week’s No. 2);
No. 7 Kansas (up one spot from last week’s No. 8);
No. 11 Iowa State (up six spots from last week’s No. 17);
No. 17 Texas (dropped 10 spots from last week’s No. 7);
No. 25 Texas Tech (moved into the poll for the first time this season).
Oklahoma received 46 votes, while West Virginia received 41 votes in the poll.
All seven teams are part of the most recent NCAA Tournament Bracketology by ESPN.
Baylor (9-0) won both of its games last week, defeating Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 99-54, and then-No. 6 Villanova, 57-36. That win, along with Purdue’s loss to Rutgers last week, paved the Bears’ way to the No. 1 ranking. The Bears were a unanimous No. 1 selection.
Baylor was last ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 the week of Jan. 27, 2020. The Bears spent all of last season as the No. 2 team in the country behind Gonzaga. The Bears beat Gonzaga in April’s national championship game.
Kansas (8-1) played two games last week, defeating UTEP, 78-52, in the Jayhawks’ annual game in Kansas City, and demolishing ‘Border Showdown’ rival Missouri, 102-65, on Saturday. Ochai Agjaji led the Jayhawks with 21 points.
Kansas is off until Saturday when it hosts Stephen F. Austin, its final game before a nine-day holiday break.
Iowa State (10-0) solidified itself as a Top 25 team with its dominating 73-53 win over Iowa in the Cy-Hawk Series on Thursday night. Iowa State followed that up with a 47-37 victory over Jackson State on Sunday. The Cyclones have two games remaining before Big 12 play begins — Dec. 19 at home against Southeastern Louisiana and Dec. 21 at home against Chicago State.
Texas (6-2) played just one game last week, falling to then No. 23-Seton Hall, 64-60, in a game in which the Longhorns failed to score a single point for nearly eight minutes in the final 10 minutes of the second half. Still, Texas had a chance to win the game in the final minute but couldn’t rise above the Pirates. It was the second loss to a ranked team this season for the Longhorns.
Texas hosts Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Tuesday before traveling to Las Vegas to face Stanford in the Pac-12 Coast-to-Coast Challenge on Sunday.
Texas Tech (7-1) claimed its first win over a Top 25 team this season when it beat then-No. 13 Tennessee, 57-52, in overtime at the Jimmy V Classic. It was the only game the Red Raiders played last week and it vaulted the into the Top 25 for the first time under head coach Mark Adams. The Red Raiders have consistently received votes since the start of the season. They host Arkansas on Tuesday and then face Gonzaga on Saturday in Phoenix.
The entire poll featured No. 1 Baylor, No. 2. Duke, No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 UCLA, No. 5 Gonzaga, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Kansas, No. 8 Arizona, No. 9 Villanova, No. 10 USC, No. 11 Iowa State, No. 12 Michigan State, No. 13 Auburn, No. 14 Houston, No. 15 Ohio State, No. 16 Seton Hall, No. 17 Texas, No. 18 Tennessee, No. 19 LSU, No. 20 UConn, No. 21 Kentucky, No. 22 Xavier, No. 23 Colorado State, No. 24 Arkansas and No. 25 Texas Tech.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
**Want to win a $20 gift card? Go sign up here and join our conversation! The best poster each week wins a gift card to your favorite establishment!**
