Villanova has leap frogged Michigan State this week to become the new No. 1 in the latest AP writers’ poll
The Cats (9-0), who are coming off a 78-69 victory over Big 5 rival La Salle at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia benefited from losses by top-ranked Duke and second-ranked Kansas to in what has been a tumultuous week college basketball top ranked teams to claim the top spot for the third time in school history. Villanova was ranked 4th last week, received 41 of 65 first place votes. Their impressive win over Gonzaga in a nationally televised JImmy V. Classic game at the Garden last Tuesday did wonders for their profile. Michigan State (9-1) moved from 3 to 2, had 19 first place votes.
The biggest surprise in the poll was the dramatic rise by Arizona State (9-0) that defeated Kansas, 95-85, at Allen Field House and jumped 11 spots to 5 and earned the other five first place votes.
Villanova has now won 21 straight games over city series rivals. The Cats are 3-0 in city series competition with one Big 5 game remaining– this Wednesday at Temple.
Here’s the AP 25.
| 1. Villanova (41) |
10-0 |
1598 |
4 |
| 2. Michigan St. (19) |
9-1 |
1561 |
3 |
| 3. Wichita St. |
8-1 |
1402 |
6 |
| 4. Duke |
11-1 |
1362 |
1 |
| 5. Arizona St (5) |
9-0 |
1316 |
16 |
| 6. Miami |
8-0 |
1272 |
10 |
| 7. North Carolina |
9-1 |
1237 |
11 |
| 8. Kentucky |
8-1 |
1227 |
8 |
| 9. Texas A&M |
8-1 |
1072 |
7 |
| 10. Xavier |
9-1 |
1044 |
13 |
| 11. West Virginia |
9-1 |
972 |
18 |
| 12. Gonzaga |
8-2 |
805 |
12 |
| 13. Kansas |
7-2 |
760 |
2 |
| 14. TCU |
10-0 |
718 |
20 |
| 15. Seton Hall |
8-1 |
704 |
19 |
| 16. Virginia |
8-1 |
690 |
15 |
| 17. Purdue |
10-2 |
568 |
21 |
| 18. Notre Dame |
8-2 |
564 |
9 |
| 19. Florida St. |
9-0 |
452 |
— |
| 20. Tennessee |
7-1 |
342 |
24 |
| 21. Baylor |
7-2 |
281 |
23 |
| 22. Florida |
6-3 |
261 |
5 |
| 23. Arizona |
7-3 |
252 |
— |
| 24. Texas Tech |
7-1 |
191 |
— |
| 25. Cincinnati |
7-2 |
145 |
17 |
Others receiving votes: Creighton 79, Oklahoma 72, Texas 52, Louisville 19, Arkansas 17, Virginia Tech 15, Minnesota 15, Nevada 13, Mississippi St. 8, UCLA 6, SMU 6, Loyola of Chicago 5, Alabama 4, Georgia 3, Houston 3, N Iowa 3, Towson 3, Syracuse 2, Boise St. 2, Middle Tennessee 1, Rhode Island 1.
