No. 2 Houston, No. 6 Iowa State Lead Six Big 12 Teams in Final AP Top 25 Poll
Six Big 12 teams landed in the Associated Press Men’s Basketball Top 25 on Monday, which was the final poll of the regular season.
The NCAA Tournament begins on Tuesday with First Four action and eight Big 12 teams will be competing to win the conference’s first national title since Kansas won the crown in 2022.
The Big 12 ranked teams included:
Houston at No. 2 (No. 1 last week);
Iowa State at No. 4 (No. 7 last week)
Baylor at No. 14 (No. 14 last week);
Kansas at No. 17 (No. 16 last week);
BYU at No. 21 (No. 20 last week);
Texas Tech at No. 22 (No. 25 last week).
Houston (30-4) lost to Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament championship game on Saturday but remained on the No. 1 seed line for the NCAA Tournament, as they will play out of the South Region. Houston was the country’s No. 1 team for three weeks before the loss.
Iowa State (27-7) won the Big 12 Tournament but it didn’t get them enough goodwill for a No. 1 seed. Instead, the Cyclones will be the No. 2 seed in the East Region and their path will take them, potentially, through defending champion UConn.
Baylor (23-10) reached the Big 12 semifinals before losing to Iowa State. The Bears are No. 3 seed in the West Region and will face Colgate in the first round.
Kansas (22-10) lost in the Big 12 quarterfinals to Cincinnati and the playing status of both center Hunter Dickinson and forward Kevin McCullar Jr. is unclear. The Jayhawks are a No. 4 seed and will face Samford in the first round in the Midwest Region.
BYU (23-10) reached the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament before losing to Texas Tech. The Cougars are a No. 6 seed in the East Region and will face Duquesne in the first round.
Texas Tech (23-10) lost to Houston in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals. The Red Raiders are a No. 6 seed and will play NC State in the first round in the South Region.
AP Top 25 Men’s Poll for March 18
No. 1 UConn
No. 2 Houston
No. 3 Purdue
No. 4 Iowa State
No. 5 North Carolina
No. 6 Tennessee
No. 7 Auburn
No. 8 Marquette
No. 9 Arizona
No. 10 Illinois
No. 11 Creighton
No. 12 Kentucky
No. 13 Duke
No. 14 Baylor
No. 15 Saint Mary’s
No. 16 South Carolina
No. 17 Kansas
No. 18 Gonzaga
No. 19 Alabama
No. 20 Utah State
No. 21 BYU
No. 22 Texas Tech
No. 23 Wisconsin
No. 24 San Diego State
No. 18 Washington State
Big 12 teams receiving votes: Texas 7.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
