AP Top 25 College Basketball Week 12: Oklahoma Stays on Top, Loses Ground to North Carolina
ByThe Oklahoma Sooners lost just hours after the Associated Press made them the fifth new number-one team of the season last week, but they held their position atop the poll regardless.
However, Oklahoma received just 36 first place votes compared to 65 last week, edging North Carolina for the top spot by a mere six points. Oklahoma rebounded from its loss to Iowa State by beating Baylor (17) over the weekend.
The preseason number-one team, North Carolina recorded its 11th consecutive win since losing to Texas, remaining in place on the Top 25 from a week ago. Iowa jumped up six places to reach third overall, having now beaten Purdue and Michigan State twice.
After losing earlier in the week to Oklahoma State, Kansas fell one place to fourth overall. Continuing its surprise season leading the SEC, Texas A&M beat LSU and Missouri this week to jump up to fifth.
Rounding out the Top 10 was Villanova (6), Xavier (7), Maryland (8), West Virginia (9), and Providence (10).
Butler, USC, and South Carolina fell off the AP Top 25 and were replaced by Wichita State (22), Oregon (23), and Notre Dame (25).
With so many upsets amid ranked teams, SMU (13) seemed primed to make a leap toward the top of the poll, but lost to Temple and fell five places instead. SMU was the last ranked team to be undefeated.