Villanova remains No. 1 in AP Poll, but huge Big East test looms
Villanova remains No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll, holding its comfortable lead over Kansas.
The Wildcats (24-3) received 45 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel on Monday for its third week on top of the poll. Kansas (23-4) was No. 1 on 20 ballots to hold second.
Villanova will have its toughest test yet as the top-ranked team when the Wildcats travel to No. 5 Xavier on Wednesday.
Oklahoma and Virginia are tied for third and are followed in the top 10 by Xavier, Michigan State, North Carolina, Iowa, Arizona and Maryland.
No. 21 Texas A&M and No. 22 Utah return to the rankings this week, replacing Dayton, which dropped out from 15th, and Providence, which was 23rd.
Full Top 25:
1. Villanova (45) 24-3 1,604 1
2. Kansas (20) 23-4 1,580 2
3. Oklahoma 21-5 1,393 3
3. Virginia 21-5 1,393 7
5. Xavier 24-3 1,368 8
6. Michigan St. 22-5 1,346 8
7. North Carolina 22-5 1,241 5
8. Iowa 20-6 1,144 4
9. Arizona 22-5 1,028 12
10. Maryland 23-5 976 6
11. Louisville 21-6 902 18
12. Miami 21-5 851 11
13. Oregon 21-6 842 16
14. West Virginia 20-7 772 10
15. Duke 20-7 674 20
16. Kentucky 20-7 627 14
17. Iowa St. 19-8 616 13
18. Indiana 22-6 571 22
19. Baylor 20-7 521 25
20. Purdue 21-7 357 17
21. Texas A&M 20-7 283 _
22. Utah 21-7 253 _
23. Notre Dame 18-8 185 19
24. SMU 22-4 154 21
25. Texas 17-10 104 24
