MIAMI, FL, Sporting Alert – The top portion remains the same in the AP Men’s College Basketball Top 25 Rankings, with Villanova staying No. 1 in Monday’s release.
UCLA, Kansas, Baylor, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Indiana, Creighton and Louisville all held their positions in Week 6.
The Wildcats (10-0) stayed on top this week with a pair of wins over La Salle and then-No. 23 Notre Dame last week to remain undefeated this season.
They received 56 first-place votes for 1,613 points.
Villanova, which is the defending national champion, returns to action on Tuesday, Dec. 13 against Temple.
UCLA is No. 2 this week again and picked up three votes for first-place from the media panel.
The Bruins also improved to 10-0 on the season after winning its lone fixture last week against Michigan.
They have two games in the upcoming week, with dates against UC Santa Barbara and Ohio State on Wednesday and Saturday.
At No. 3 this week is Kansas, with Baylor, which collected six first-place votes, despite being inactive last week, staying at fourth and Duke completing the Top 5 after a pair of wins last week over then-No. 21 Florida and long-time rival UNLV.
Also holding their places in Week 6 of the AP Top 25 Rankings were Kentucky at No. 6, North Carolina at seventh, Gonzaga at eighth, Indiana at No. 9, Creighton at No. 10 and Louisville at 11th.
West Virginia, Virginia, Wisconsin and Purdue all climbed this week to round out the Top 15.
Saint Mary’s was the biggest dippers this week, dropping eight places to No. 20 after losing 65-51 to UT-Arlington, while South Carolina, Xavier, Butler and Arizona also made up the Top 20.
Florida State at No. 23 and USC at No. 24 come into the rankings this week with Florida and Iowa State making way for the pair.
Men’s Basketball AP Top 25 Rankings
RK TEAM VOTES RECORD PTS
1 Villanova (56) 10-0 1,613
2 UCLA (3) 10-0 1,505
3 Kansas 9-1 1,455
4 Baylor (6) 8-0 1,439
5 Duke 10-1 1,391
6 Kentucky 9-1 1,277
7 North Carolina 10-1 1,222
8 Gonzaga 10-0 1,195
9 Indiana 8-1 1,124
10 Creighton 10-0 1,043
11 Louisville 9-1 981
12 West Virginia 8-1 864
13 Virginia 8-1 848
14 Wisconsin 9-2 779
15 Purdue 8-2 652
16 South Carolina 8-0 598
17 Xavier 8-2 526
18 Butler 9-1 492
19 Arizona 8-2 436
20 Saint Mary’s 7-1 391
21 Notre Dame 9-1 310
22 Oregon 8-2 251
23 Florida State 10-1 227 NR
24 USC 9-0 158 NR
25 Cincinnati 7-2 155
Dropped from rankings: Florida 21, Iowa State 25
Others receiving votes: Florida 44, Wichita St 33, Virginia Tech 32, Maryland 31, Valparaiso 9, TCU 8, Middle Tennessee 7, Miami 6, Minnesota 6, Kansas State 4, UCF 2, Syracuse 2, Ohio State 2, Pittsburgh 2, Michigan State 2, Iowa State 1, Clemson 1, Loyola (CHI) 1
