Kentucky, Syracuse and Kansas are the top three teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll for a second straight week.
Kentucky, which finished unbeaten in the Southeastern Conference, is a runaway No. 1 for a seventh straight week, receiving 63 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel.
Big East champion Syracuse, which received two first-place votes, is second for the sixth consecutive week. Kansas, the Big 12 champion for an eighth straight season, is followed by North Carolina, Missouri, Duke, Ohio State, Michigan State, Marquette and Michigan.
Gonzaga, at No. 24, and Iowa State, at 25th, are the week’s newcomers. Gonzaga was out the last two weeks, while Iowa State is ranked for the first time since the opening week of 2005-06.
Louisville, which was ranked as high as fourth this season, dropped out from 19th, while Virginia was 24th.
The AP Top 25 Poll
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 4:
Record Pts Prv
1. Kentucky (63) 30-1 1,623 1
2. Syracuse (2) 30-1 1,561 2
3. Kansas 26-5 1,482 3
4. North Carolina 27-4 1,442 6
5. Missouri 27-4 1,343 7
6. Duke 26-5 1,262 4
7. Ohio St. 25-6 1,251 10
8. Michigan St. 24-7 1,149 5
9. Marquette 25-6 1,087 8
10. Michigan 23-8 945 13
11. Murray St. 30-1 922 12
12. Baylor 25-6 909 9
13. Georgetown 22-7 873 11
14. Wisconsin 23-8 853 14
15. Indiana 24-7 707 18
16. Wichita St. 27-5 492 15
17. Florida St. 21-9 468 22
18. San Diego St. 24-6 441 21
19. Creighton 28-5 364 25
20. UNLV 25-7 360 17
21. Temple 24-6 343 23
22. Florida 22-9 305 16
23. Notre Dame 21-10 256 20
24. Gonzaga 25-5 170 —
25. Iowa St. 22-9 127 —
Others receiving votes — Saint Mary’s (Cal) 88, Louisville 84, Drexel 83, New Mexico 64, Virginia 34, Memphis 13, VCU 6, Vanderbilt 6, Cincinnati 5, Long Beach St. 3, Kansas St. 2, Harvard 1, Saint Louis 1.