Kansas, UConn top AP polls

ASSOCIATED PRESS

After three weeks of not being No. 1, Kansas moved back to the top of The Associated Press’ college basketball poll.

The Jayhawks (20-1) were No. 1 in the preseason Top 25 and for the first eight weeks of the regular season. They moved back into the top spot Monday, receiving 54 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel.

The other three Division I teams with just one loss — Villanova, Syracuse and Kentucky — were second through fourth.

Villanova and Syracuse both moved up one place to second and third. The Wildcats (19-1) received four first-place votes while the Orange (21-1) got six.

Kentucky was a unanimous No. 1 last week but dropped to fourth after losing to South Carolina, its first loss of the season. The Wildcats (20-1) had one first-place vote.

Kansas fell from No. 1 to third after losing at Tennessee. Since then, the Jayhawks have won six straight, including Saturday’s 81-79 overtime victory at Kansas State.

Kansas coach Bill Self said now that conference races are under way, it will be hard for any team to hold on for long at the top.

“There could be a new No. 1 next week, and the week after,” he said. “Because when you play road league games, people are going to lose. It’s not a major upset. We won the national championship (in 2008) and lost three league games in five games. But I’d rather play like a No. 1-ranked team than be ranked No. 1. Hopefully, we can do that.”

Michigan State was fifth, followed by West Virginia, Georgetown, Purdue and Texas, which dropped from sixth to ninth. The Longhorns (18-3) were No. 1 for two weeks before dropping to sixth last week. Their 80-77 overtime loss to Baylor on Saturday was their third in four games.

Duke and Kansas State tied for 10th.

BYU was 12th followed by Ohio State, Tennessee, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Vanderbilt, Temple and Baylor.

Women

Connecticut now stands alone at No. 1 in every way.

UConn was the top choice in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for a record 37th straight week, surpassing Louisiana Tech (1980-82) for the longest streak atop the Top 25. The Huskies again were the unanimous choice as the top team, receiving 40 first-place votes from a national media panel Monday.

“All these things that happen always mean more at the end than during,” Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said.

Stanford remained No. 2 while Notre Dame was third. Nebraska (19-0) moved up to No. 4. Tennessee was fifth.

Ohio State dropped two Big Ten games this week and fell four places to eighth. North Carolina and Oklahoma State rounded out the first 10. It was the Cowgirls first appearance ever in the Top 10.