Kansas Begins, Ends Regular Season As College Basketball's Top Team

Sports News - March 8th, 2010 - Written By John Ritter

After winning it's sixth Big 12 regular season crown in a row, Kansas is back atop the Associated Press' college basketball poll Monday.

For the 14th week this season, the Jayhawks top the list after a dizzying final two months that saw four teams shuffle in and out almost weekly. They received 63 of the 65 first-place votes, and 1,623 total points. It was a fitting cap to a surprisingly stable poll that saw the same 25 teams ranked two-straight weeks for the first time all season.

Kentucky, which has been no. 1 twice this season, moves into the two-spot, and was the only other team to receive first-place votes. Syracuse, no. 1 last week, lost to Louisville in the Freedom Hall au revoir, fell to third and Duke is in at fourth.

Assuming all four no. 1 seeds are essentially already locked in place, the final regular season poll featuring Kansas on top isn't all that significant.

But the Jayhawks return to the pinnacle of college basketball does mean a top ranking at the beginning and end of the season, and provides little doubt that they will earn the top overall seed in the upcoming NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Ohio State, assumed the only other team with a shot at a one-seed, is fifth and could ascend higher with a Big Ten tournament win. The Robbie Hummel-less Purdue Boilermakers have recovered from their nine-point loss to Michigan State, and moved up into sixth, one spot ahead of the big movers, West Virginia.

The Mountaineers jumped from 10th after beating Villanova over the weekend. The Wildcats, who have now lost four of sixth, took West Virginia's spot rounding out the top-ten.

It was a bittersweet week at Kansas State. Head coach Frank Martin was named conference coach of the year by the AP, and signed a fat contract extension. But losing it's last two games of the schedule certainly soured an otherwise terrific season, and the Wildcats fell to ninth behind New Mexico.

Michigan State starts out the next ten, making three Big Ten teams ranked in the top 11 - most of any conference. The Spartans are followed by Horizon League-favorite Butler, Wisconsin, BYU and Tennessee.

The Volunteers have hung around the middle of the polls all year, and are the only team to beat two no. 1s this season.

Pittsburgh, which earned a second-seed in the Big East tournament with a terrific close to the schedule, is 16th, followed by Gonzaga, Maryland and Vanderbilt.

The Terrapins' rise to 19 after beating Duke means the ACC has two in the top-20 for the first time since. Their three-spot jump ties West Virginia and Temple for biggest of the week.

The Big East, considered the strongest conference for the second year in a row, has the most ranked teams (5) heading into conference tournament week, followed by the Big 12 and Big Ten (4).