Gonzaga’s bid for a wire-to-wire flight at No. 1 just keeps dragging along.
Baylor is still there with the Zags.
Gonzaga received 60 first votes from a media panel in the Associated Press college men’s basketball poll released Monday, getting one vote from last week. The second-placed Bears got the other four first-place votes in a week of little change.
Gonzaga and Baylor have been 1-2 all season long.
Michigan, Ohio State and Illinois completed the top five for the second straight week. The Buckeyes held their own despite a 92-87 loss to the Wolverines on Saturday.
The Zags (22-0, 13-0 West Coast Conference) walked Saint Mary’s and San Diego last week in their bid to become the first wire-to-wire No. 1 since Kentucky in 2014-15.
Gonzaga has won 26 consecutive games after knocking out San Diego 106-69 on Saturday and hasn’t actually been tested despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the country.
“We’re just maturing and understanding that just winning these games doesn’t necessarily mean we get a guaranteed national championship,” said guard Andrew Nembhard. “We have to raise our level and keep improving every day, so that’s what we’ve been trying to do. It’s been showing a little bit in our game lately.”
Baylor (17-0, 9-0 Big 12) was number 2 for the season, despite three more games being postponed due to problems with COVID-19. The Bears haven’t played since Texas was defeated on February 2, and eight games were postponed this season.
Baylor will play against Iowa State on Tuesday.
High tide
Alabama is up two places this week to No. 6, its highest position since reaching No. 4 in 2006-07. The Crimson Tide have won three times in a row since losing to No. 24 Missouri by three.
Alabama is within reach of its first Southeastern Conference regular season title in 19 years after rallying to beat Vanderbilt 82-78 on Saturday.
The Crimson Tide is 13-1 in SEC play, 3½ games for No. 20 Arkansas and LSU. Alabama will play in Arkansas on Wednesday.
Top 10 return
No. 9 Iowa and No. 10 West Virginia returned to the top 10 this week.
The Hawkeyes, the No. 5 preseason, dropped out of the top 10 for the second time this season on February 8, but came back this week thanks to a four-game winning streak. Iowa beat No. 23 Wisconsin and Penn State last week.
The Mountaineers were in the top 10 for three weeks before retiring on December 28. West Virginia knocked out No. 14 Texas 84-82 Saturday to move up three places in this week’s poll.
Jayhawks climbing
Kansas is climbing after seeing its record run in the AP Top 25 two weeks ago.
The Jayhawks have won five in a row, including a six-point win over No. 18 Texas Tech last week, and are up six places to No. 17 in this week’s poll. Kansas returned to the poll last week after dropping out on Feb. 8, finishing a run of 231 consecutive weeks in the AP Top 25.
Poll movement
No new teams were drawn in or out of the poll this week. … No. 11 Florida State had the biggest jump, winning five places after beating Pittsburgh. … No. 12 Houston lost six places to drop out of the top 10 for the first time since January 11 after losing to Wichita State and beating Cincinnati last week. … no. 15 Virginia fell eight places after losses to Duke and Florida last week. … No. 20 Arkansas has the highest ranking since reaching No. 18 in 2014-15 after beating Florida last week.