Kentucky climbs back into top 10 in final basketball poll
Kentucky climbed six slots back into the top 10 in the final Associated Press college basketball poll released Monday.
The poll and the NCAA Tournament don’t agree on the top four teams.
Kansas is No. 1 for the third straight week. and fifth overall, while Michigan State, not one of the NCAA field’s top four seeds, is second followed by North Carolina and Virginia.
The Jayhawks (30-4) received 63 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel. Michigan State, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, got the other two No. 1 votes.
Oregon, the NCAA’s other No. 1 seed, is fifth followed by Villanova, Oklahoma, West Virginia and Xavier. Miami and Kentucky are tied for 10th.
Big East champion Seton Hall is the week’s only newcomer at No. 20, replacing Texas.
There were six No. 1s this season – one off the record set in 1982-83 – and Kansas’ five weeks were the most on top.
There were 44 schools ranked this season and the Atlantic Coast Conference had the most with eight.
The Top Twenty Five
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ final 2015-16 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 13, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Record | Pts | Prv | |
1. Kansas (63) | 30-4 | 1,623 | 1 |
2. Michigan St. (2) | 29-5 | 1,552 | 2 |
3. North Carolina | 28-6 | 1,488 | 7 |
4. Virginia | 26-7 | 1,384 | 4 |
5. Oregon | 28-6 | 1,371 | 8 |
6. Villanova | 29-5 | 1,283 | 3 |
7. Oklahoma | 25-7 | 1,215 | 6 |
8. West Virginia | 26-8 | 1,193 | 9 |
9. Xavier | 27-5 | 1,127 | 5 |
10. Kentucky | 26-8 | 920 | 16 |
10. Miami | 25-7 | 920 | 11 |
12. Purdue | 26-8 | 873 | 13 |
13. Utah | 26-8 | 870 | 12 |
14. Indiana | 25-7 | 828 | 10 |
15. Texas A&M | 26-8 | 682 | 17 |
16. Louisville | 23-8 | 585 | 14 |
17. Arizona | 25-8 | 559 | 15 |
18. Maryland | 25-8 | 489 | 18 |
19. Duke | 23-10 | 383 | 19 |
20. Seton Hall | 25-8 | 374 | _ |
21. Baylor | 22-11 | 347 | 22 |
22. Iowa St. | 21-11 | 317 | 21 |
23. California | 23-10 | 270 | 24 |
24. SMU | 25-5 | 84 | 25 |
25. Iowa | 21-10 | 82 | 20 |
Others receiving votes: Texas 69, Notre Dame 61, Saint Joseph’s 60, UConn 34, Stephen F. Austin 12, Dayton 11, Wichita St. 9, Wisconsin 9, Gonzaga 8, UALR 5, Providence 4, Butler 3, Cincinnati 3, Monmouth (NJ) 3, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 3, Valparaiso 3, Yale 3, Michigan 2, Stony Brook 2, Akron 1, N. Iowa 1.
Ballots Online: http://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll
This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Kentucky climbs back into top 10 in final basketball poll."