Gonzaga’s bid for a wire-to-wire race at No. 1 continues.
Baylor is still there with the Zags.
Gonzaga received 60 first-place votes from a media panel in the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll released Monday, which garnered a vote last week. Second-placed Bears received the other top four votes in a week of few changes.
Gonzaga and Baylor have been 1-2 all season.
Michigan, Ohio and Illinois completed the top five for the second week in a row. The Buckeyes held their position despite losing 92-87 against the Wolverines on Saturday.
The Zags (22-0, 13-0 West Coast Conference) overtook Saint Mary’s and San Diego last week in their attempt to become the first No. 1 wire from Kentucky in 2014-15.
Gonzaga has won 26 straight games after flying San Diego 106-69 on Saturday and has really not been tested despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
“We’re getting more mature and we understand that winning these games doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll get a guaranteed national championship,” guard Andrew Nembhard said. “We have to increase our level and keep improving every day, so that’s what we’ve been trying to do. It’s shown a bit in our game lately.”
Baylor (17-0, 9-0 Big 12) held the spot during the season at No. 2, despite having postponed three more games due to problems with COVID-19. The Bears haven’t played since beating Texas on Feb. 2 and have postponed eight games this season.
Baylor is scheduled to play at Iowa State on Tuesday.
The ascending sea
Alabama has climbed two places to No. 6 this week, its highest ranking since reaching No. 4 in 2006-07. The Crimson Tide have won three in a row since losing by three against No. 24 Missouri.
Alabama is on the verge of its first regular-season Southeastern Conference title in 19 years after coming together to beat Vanderbilt 82-78 on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide are 13-1 in SEC play, 3½ games ahead of No. 20 Arkansas and LSU. Alabama plays Arkansas on Wednesday.
Top 10 return
Iowa’s No. 9 and West Virginia’s No. 10 returned to the top 10 this week.
The Hawkeyes, the No. 5 preseason, came out of the top 10 for the second time this season on Feb. 8, but came back this week thanks to a streak of four winning games. Iowa beat No. 23 Wisconsin and Penn State last week.
The Mountaineers spent three weeks in the top ten before leaving on December 28th. West Virginia defeated Texas No. 14 84-82 on Saturday to climb three places in this week’s poll.
Jayhawks puja
Kansas rises after seeing its record at the end of the AP Top 25 two weeks ago.
The Jayhawks have won five in a row, including a six-point win over Texas Tech No. 18 last week, and climbed six places to No. 17 in this week’s poll. Kansas voted again last week after leaving on Feb. 8 and finished with a run of 231 consecutive weeks in the AP’s Top 25.
Survey movement
No new team has entered or left the poll this week. … State no. Florida’s 11 had the biggest jump, winning five places after beating Pittsburgh. … The No. 12 Houston lost six places to stay in the top 10 for the first time since Jan. 11 after losing to Wichita State and winning last week in Cincinnati. … Virginia’s No. 15 dropped eight places after losses to Duke and Florida State last week. … Arkansas No. 20 has the highest ranking since reaching No. 18 in 2014-15 after beating Florida last week.