Gonzaga has completed a start-to-finish run atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.
Coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs (26-0) received all 60 first-place votes to stay atop Monday’s final poll, becoming the first team since Kentucky in 2014-15 to be No. 1 in every poll and the 14th overall. Gonzaga, named the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, will try to become the first unbeaten national champion since Indiana in 1976.
| Rank | Team | Record | Previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonzaga | 26-0 | 1 |
| 2 | Illinois | 23-6 | 3 |
| 3 | Baylor | 22-2 | 2 |
| 4 | Michigan | 20-4 | 4 |
| 5 | Alabama | 24-6 | 6 |
| 6 | Houston | 24-3 | 7 |
| 7 | Ohio State | 21-9 | 9 |
| 8 | Iowa | 21-8 | 5 |
| 9 | Texas | 19-7 | 13 |
| 10 | Arkansas | 22-6 | 8 |
| 11 | Oklahoma State | 20-8 | 12 |
| 12 | Kansas | 20-8 | 11 |
| 13 | West Virginia | 18-9 | 10 |
| 14 | Florida State | 16-6 | 15 |
| 15 | Virginia | 18-6 | 16 |
| 16 | San Diego State | 23-4 | 19 |
| 17 | Loyola Chicago | 24-4 | 18 |
| 18 | Villanova | 16-6 | 14 |
| 19 | Creighton | 20-8 | 17 |
| 20 | Purdue | 18-9 | 21 |
| 21 | Texas Tech | 17-10 | 20 |
| 22 | Colorado | 22-8 | 23 |
| 23 | BYU | 20-6 | -- |
| 24 | USC | 22-7 | 24 |
| 25 | Virginia Tech | 15-6 | 22 |
Illinois jumped to No. 2 after winning the Big Ten Tournament, swapping spots with Baylor — which fell one spot after spending 15 of 17 polls sitting at No. 2.
Michigan was next at No. 4, with all three of those teams joining Gonzaga in earning No. 1 seeds for the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama was No. 5, with the Crimson Tide reaching their highest ranking since December 2006 after winning the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 1991. Houston, Ohio State, Iowa, Texas and Arkansas rounded out the top 10.
BYU was the only addition to the poll, tying for No. 23 with Southern California.
The Big 12 had a national-best six teams in the poll, including No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Kansas, No. 13 West Virginia and No. 21 Texas Tech. The Big Ten was next with five teams, with No. 20 Purdue joining four top-10 teams.
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More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/College-basketball and http://www.twitter.com/AP_Top25
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
