MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – Villanova is still the No. 1 team in The Associated Press college men’s basketball Top 25 in Week 8.
The Wildcats (12-0) received 56 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel for 1,614 points after beating American 90-48 for its 18th straight win last Wednesday night.
Following the defending national champion again this week is fellow undefeated program UCLA (13-0), which stayed at No. 2 after collecting three No. 1 votes for 1,518 points.
Kansas (11-1) remained third, with Baylor (12-0), which got the other six first-place votes at No. 4.
The Duke Blue Devils (12-1) remained fifth with a pair of battling wins over Tennessee State and Elon while Louisville climbed four spots from 10th to sixth, following the 73-70 upset win over Kentucky in its lone game last week.
Gonzaga comes in seventh and is followed by Kentucky, North Carolina and Creighton in the AP Top 10.
Next is West Virginia at No. 11, and it is followed by Virginia, Butler, Wisconsin and Purdue.
Indiana, Xavier, Arizona, Saint Mary’s and Florida State complete the Top 20 while Oregon, Southern California, Cincinnati, Notre Dame and Florida rounded out the last five teams in the Top 25 rankings.
Florida is the newcomers this week, replacing South Carolina at No. 25.
The Gators return to the AP Top 25 after watching the past two weeks outside of the rankings.
Associated Press Top 25
Men’s College Basketball Rankings
RK TEAM RECORD
1 Villanova (56) 12-0
2 UCLA (3) 13-0
3 Kansas 11-1
4 Baylor (6) 12-0
5 Duke 12-1
6 Louisville 11-1
7 Gonzaga 12-0
8 Kentucky 10-2
9 North Carolina 11-2
10 Creighton 12-0
11 West Virginia 11-1
12 Virginia 10-1
13 Butler 11-1
14 Wisconsin 11-2
15 Purdue 11-2
16 Indiana 10-2
17 Xavier 10-2
18 Arizona 11-2
19 Saint Mary’s 10-1
20 Florida State 12-1
21 Oregon 11-2
22 USC 13-0
23 Cincinnati 10-2
24 Notre Dame 10-2
25 Florida 9-3
Dropped From Rankings: South Carolina (22)
Others receiving votes: Maryland 40, Virginia Tech 37, Seton Hall 18, Clemson 12, Minnesota 8, Miami 8, Oklahoma State 7, Northwestern 5, South Carolina 4, UNC Wilmington 3, Arkansas 3, Iowa State 2
