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NCAA basketball men’s rankings: Dayton keeps climbing

Plus, Kansas holds on to the top spot.

NCAA Basketball: Davidson at Dayton David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports

We are nearing the end of the regular season of college basketball and there’s still a lot of movement in the AP Poll. The Kansas Jayhawks stayed at No. 1 for the second straight week after taking care of Kansas State in the rematch of a game that featured a brawl earlier in the season. Fellow Big-12 team Baylor dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 after losing to TCU on the road, leaving room for Gonzaga to move up one spot to No. 2.

Obi Toppin and the Dayton Flyers kept cruising with wins over George Mason and Davidson, moving up to No. 3. One-loss San Diego State stayed put at No. 5 to round out the top five. Kentucky jumped two spots to No. 6, with Florida State, Seton Hall, Maryland, and Louisville filling out the top-10.

Duke fell from No. 7 to No. 12 after falling to reigning champion Virginia in Charlottesville, and the Cavaliers rejoined the rankings at No. 22. Tony Bennett’s squad is rounding into form at the right time as they are in the midst of a six-game win streak (and have won nine of the last 10).

The Big Ten has a ridiculous eight teams in the rankings this week, and — despite heavy criticism of the strength of the league this year — the ACC comes in second with four ranked teams.

Three teams — West Virginia, Colorado, and Texas Tech — all fell out of the rankings this week.

Here is the full poll:

AP Poll - Week 18

Rank Team Conference Previous Rank
Rank Team Conference Previous Rank
1 Kansas Big 12 1
2 Gonzaga WCC 3
3 Dayton A-10 4
4 Baylor Big 12 2
5 San Diego State Mountain West 5
6 Kentucky SEC 8
7 Florida State ACC 6
8 Seton Hall Big East 13
9 Maryland Big Ten 9
10 Louisville ACC 11
11 Creighton Big East 10
12 Duke ACC 7
13 Oregon Pac-12 14
14 Villanova Big East 12
15 BYU West Coast 17
16 Michigan State Big Ten 24
17 Auburn SEC 15
18 Iowa Big Ten 18
19 Ohio State Big Ten 23
20 Penn State Big Ten 16
21 Houston AAC 25
22 Virginia ACC NR
23 Illinois Big Ten NR
24 Wisconsin Big Ten NR
25 Michigan Big Ten 19
Also Receiving Votes: Butler 68, UCLA 54, Stephen F. Austin 47, East Tennessee State 31, West Virginia 22, Providence 17, Colorado 13, Marquette 12, Arizona 9, Texas Tech 9, Northern Iowa 4, Oklahoma 4, Stanford 4, Arizona State 4, Wichita State 2, Saint Mary’s 2, LSU 2, New Mexico State 2, USC 1, Belmont 1, Vermont 1