The Duke Blue Devils nabbed the #1 ranking in the AP Top 25 for the fifth time this season. Mike Krzyzewski's squad jumped up from the third ranking last week, registering 39 first-pace votes. The Louisville Cardinals, last week's number-one team, lost to Syracuse and fell to number 5. The Michigan Wolverines moved up three spots to the #2 slot, while Kansas moved up to the third rank from the fourth.
The Wolverines notched 11 first-place votes, Syracuse had eight, and Kansas recorded seven.
The fastest climber this week is Wichita State, which had a six-slot increase (to #20) after being unranked.
Four teams had a +5 boost in the Top 25, including previously unranked Cincinnati (now 21 after being outside of the top 25). Kansas State moved up to the #11 team in the nation, Michigan State is two spots behind at 13 and Oregon went from 21 to 16.
Indiana (7), Creighton (17) and Missouri (22) tied for the most precipitous drop, losing five spots each.
Ole Miss (23) and the University of Miami (25) each moved into the Top 25 along with Wichita State and Cincinnati. San Diego State (15), Illinois (23), UCLA (24) and Marquette (25) all dropped out of the rankings this week.
Kansas was one of three teams in the top ten to win two games this past week. #8 Florida and #9 Butler each accomplished the feat too, with the Bulldogs beating Gonzaga in dramatic, come-from-behind fashion with a Roosevelt Jones steal and shot in the game's last ten seconds. Gonzaga stayed in the top ten despite the loss, sitting right at #10. Butler took Minnesota's spot in the top ten, with no other teams leaving or entering it this week.