MORGANTOWN, WV - JANUARY 12: Jaysean Paige #5 of the West Virginia Mountaineers dunks the ball in the second half during the game against the Kansas Jayhawks at the WVU Coliseum on January 12, 2016 in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
After holding the number one spot in the polls for two weeks in January, the Kansas Jayhawks have now reclaimed that ranking, receiving 63 of 65 first place votes in the AP Poll and 31 of 32 in the Coaches’ Poll.
In their first game atop the polls, the Jayhawks opened up a 15-0 lead in Austin against the Texas Longhorns, who came in feeling confident after beating arch rival Oklahoma on Saturday. Kansas certainly left no doubt who the top dog in the conference was with a chance to win their 11th straight Big 12 regular season title in the 86-56 romp.
“For 20-25 minutes, that was about as well as we can play,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “We talked about we don’t want to share anything.”
The Jayhawks improved to 26-4 (14-3 Big 12) and have won 10 consecutive games.
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Last weeks number one, Villanova (25-4, 14-2 Big East) lost on the road to No. 5 Xavier in Cincinnati and dropped to No. 3 in the AP Poll and No. 2 in the Coaches’ Poll.
Michigan State (24-5, 11-5 Big Ten) received all of the other first place votes and climbed to second spot in the AP, and third in the Coaches’.
Last week saw five of the top seven teams lose to allow the Spartans’ ascension despite being in second place for the Big Ten.
Despite last week’s losses, North Carolina, Villanova, and Virginia join Kansas as the top seeds in Joe Lunardi’s most recent mock NCAA Tournament bracket. The eighth ranked Tar Heels will play their season finale March 5 at 6:30 on the road against arch rival No. 17 Duke. The Wildcats have two more games left this season, tonight hosting DePaul at 7 and March 5 at home against Georgetown at noon. The No. 4 Cavaliers wrap the 2015-16 season on the road against Clemson tonight at 7 and then at home against No. 11 Louisville on March 5 at 8:30. The top ranked Jayhawks will look to avoid any mishaps in their finale when they host No. 21 Iowa State, March 5 at 4.
Selection Sunday for the NCAA Tournament in March 13 and the Tournament tips off March 15 in Dayton, Ohio.
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