Kansas, Kentucky and Syracuse have identical records, and there isn’t a whole lot of disparity between the trio.
Despite the fact that the Jayhawks lost on the road to Oklahoma State, that doesn’t mean that Syracuse should automatically jump to the No. 1 spot.
In fact, we’re keeping Bill Self’s team at numero uno due to a more impressive body of work. The Jayhawks have beaten eight NCAA tournament teams, and four of those wins have come on the road.
In comparison, Syracuse has also knocked off eight likely tourney teams — and just two have come in true road contests.
However, it’s a close call between the two teams right now.
Kentucky is a clear-cut third with a less impressive résumé that includes wins against a half-dozen tourney teams.
Duke and Kansas State both slide up a couple spots into the Top 5 and Ohio State, which is 20-4 with Evan Turner in the lineup, moves all the way up to No. 6.
Villanova, after the loss at the Carrier Dome — its third in the past four games — falls to No. 7 and is followed by West Virginia, Purdue and Temple to round out the Top 10.
The Boilermakers certainly aren’t the same team without Robbie Hummel as they showed on Sunday afternoon in a home loss to Michigan State, but it’s unfair to drop them too far so quickly.
Baylor returned to the Top 25 at 21st overall after a pair of wins against Texas A&M and Oklahoma, while there are a pair of newcomers: No. 24 Xavier and No. 25 Maryland.
They replace Richmond, Missouri and Northern Iowa — all of which fell out after losses this past week. The Spiders dropped one at Xavier and Missouri lost at Kansas State — there’s no shame in either setback — while Northern Iowa lost at Evansville.
WEEK 16 TOP 25 POLL
1. Kansas (27-2) *1
2. Syracuse (27-2) *3
3. Kentucky (27-2) *2
4. Duke (25-4) *6
5. Kansas State (24-4) *7
6. Ohio State (23-7) *9
7. Villanova (23-5) *5
8. West Virginia (22-6) *8
9. Purdue (24-4) *4
10. Temple (24-5) *11
11. New Mexico (27-3) *12
12. Wisconsin (21-7) *13
13. Pittsburgh (22-7) *10
14. Vanderbilt (22-6) *17
15. Michigan State (22-7) *18
16. Butler (26-4) *16
17. Tennessee (21-7) *21
18. Georgetown (19-8) *14
19. Texas (22-7) *15
20. BYU (26-4) *19
21. Baylor (22-6) *NR
22. Texas A&M (20-8) * 20
23. Gonzaga (24-5) *24
24. Xavier (21-7) *NR
25. Maryland (21-7) *NR
Dropped out: No. 22 Richmond, No. 23 Missouri, No. 25 Northern Iowa.
