Second-ranked Villanova made it a 1-2 Wildcats punch, earning 20 first-place votes.
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Also receiving first-place votes: No. 3 North Carolina (7-0), coming off winning the Maui Invitational, got four, and No. 9 Baylor (6-0) got the remaining vote for No. 1 after winning the Battle 4 Atlantis, vaulting it from No. 20 into the Top 10.
Indiana, ranked No. 3 last week, fell to No. 13 after losing to Fort Wayne, a Summit League team.
Three teams make their first appearance of the year in this season’s poll: No. 18 Butler, No. 20 South Carolina and No. 24 Florida.
The Big East and ACC have three teams each in the Top 10, while ACC leads with five teams in the Top 25.
AP Top 25
Rank. Team (first-place votes), W-L, Points 1. Kentucky (40), 6-0 1,590 2. Villanova (20), 6-0 1,567 3. North Carolina (4), 7-0 1,497 4. Kansas, 5-1, 1,414 5. Duke, 6-1, 1,365 6. Virginia, 6-0, 1,286 7. Xavier, 6-0, 1,181 8. Gonzaga, 6-0, 1,112 9. Baylor (1), 6-0, 1,068 10. Creighton, 6-0, 965 11. UCLA, 7-0, 955 12. Saint Mary’s (Calif.), 5-0, 866 13. Indiana, 4-1, 857 14. Louisville, 5-1, 808 15. Purdue, 5-1, 687 16. Arizona, 5-1, 655 17. Wisconsin, 5-2, 555 18. Butler, 6-0, 506 19. Iowa State, 5-1, 389 20. South Carolina, 6-0, 379 21. Rhode Island, 5-1, 354 22. Syracuse, 4-1, 229 23. Oregon, 4-2, 189 24. Florida, 6-1, 154 25. West Virginia, 4-1, 132
Others receiving votes: Maryland 126, Notre Dame 85, Cincinnati 49, Michigan State 28, Ohio State 22, Michigan 13, Temple 8, USC 7, Houston 6, Florida State 5, VCU 5, California 3, Tennessee State 2, Virginia Tech 1, Arkansas State 1, San Diego State 1, Colorado 1, Minnesota 1, Rutgers 1
Dropped from rankings: Texas 22, Michigan State 24, Michigan 25, Florida State 25
