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College basketball poll: Baylor remains No. 1 for second week; Texas Tech drops out

The Bears stayed well ahead of No. 2 Gonzaga in Monday’s ranking.

Baylor is No. 1 for a second straight week in an AP Top 25 poll that had no major changes at the top, a rare bit of stability in a wildly unpredictable season.

The Bears stayed well ahead of No. 2 Gonzaga in Monday's poll, part of an unchanged top seven for the first time this season. The only change in the top 10 came with Villanova moving up a spot to No. 8 to swap positions with No. 9 Duke. That comes in a season that has seen seven different teams reach No. 1 this season, matching a record set during the 1982-83 season.

Baylor (17-1) hopped over Gonzaga last week to reach No. 1 for the second time in program history, though the Bears lasted only a week on top in its previous stint in January 2017. This time, they earned 44 of 64 first-place votes to keep a firm hold on the top spot after beating Oklahoma and Florida last week.

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“I think our staff’s done a better job this time with (avoiding) all the distractions and more focus on we want to be No. 1 at the end of the year," coach Scott Drew said after the win against the Sooners.

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So far this season, Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke, Louisville, Kansas and Gonzaga have seen time at No. 1 before Baylor made its jump to the top. The Zags stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, but none of the other top-ranked teams lasted more than two weeks at No. 1.

Rising

Houston made the biggest jump in a week that featured only modest climbs or slides, rising four spots to No. 21. No. 20 Colorado moved up three spots, while No. 12 West Virginia, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 15 Maryland and No. 19 Illinois each rose two spots.

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In all, nine teams moved up in this week's poll.

Farewell (for now)

Texas Tech (No. 18), Memphis (No. 20) and Arizona (No. 22) fell out of the rankings. The Tigers had been ranked all season, while this is the second time that the Red Raiders and Wildcats have fallen out of the poll.

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AP Top 25

RankTeam (Record)Prev.
1.Baylor (17-1)1
2.Gonzaga (21-1)2
3.Kansas (16-3)3
4.San Diego State (21-0)4
5.Florida State (17-2)5
6.Louisville (17-3)6
7.Dayton (18-2)7
8.Villanova (16-3)9
9.Duke (16-3)8
10.Seton Hall (15-4)10
11.Oregon (17-4)12
12.West Virginia (16-3)14
13.Kentucky (15-4)15
14.Michigan State (15-5)11
15.Maryland (16-4)17
16.Butler (16-4)13
17.Auburn (17-2)16
18.Iowa (14-5)19
19.Illinois (15-5)21
20.Colorado (16-4)23
21.Houston (16-4)25
22.LSU (15-4)NR
23.Wichita State (17-3)NR
24.Penn State (14-5)NR
25.Rutgers (15-5)24

Others receiving votes: Creighton 59, Arizona 55, Texas Tech 33, Ohio State 16, Indiana 15, East Tennessee State 14, Northern Iowa 13, Memphis 11, USC 9, Rhode Island 6, Purdue 6, Florida 4, Arkansas 3, Saint Mary’s 3, Tulsa 3, SMU 3, Wisconsin 1, Akron 1, Harvard 1.