For the fourth straight week, the Virginia Cavaliers sit atop the penultimate AP Poll, this time a unanimous pick with all 65 first place votes. Virginia joins Duke (weeks four and five) as the only teams to be unanimous No. 1s this season.
NCAA basketball rankings 2018: Virginia becomes unanimous No. 1 in fourth straight week atop polls
Villanova jumps back in at No. 2 and Big Ten champion Michigan up eight spots to No. 7.
Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports
The Hoos looked in danger of losing the top spot last Thursday as they trailed Louisville by four with 0.9 seconds left on the clock, but a couple free throws, a lane violation, an inbounding violation on the Cards, and a banked in buzzer-beater by DeAndre Hunter gave Virginia the 67-66 win.
Villanova leap-frogged No. 3 Xavier and Michigan State to jump into the No. 2 spot this week. The Spartans, who lost to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament semifinals, dropped from No. 2 to No. 4. Duke stayed in the No. 5 position after losing to Virginia Tech and beating North Carolina.
Gonzaga moved up one spot to No. 6, and Michigan, the Big Ten tournament champion, jumped eight spots into the top ten at No. 7. Cincinnati, Kansas, and Purdue round out the top ten.
Kentucky and Middle Tennessee State fell out of the rankings this week, making room for Florida and Miami (FL) to jump in at the No. 23 and No. 24 spots, respectively.
With the addition of the Hurricanes, the ACC retook the lead with five teams in the rankings. The Big Ten has four teams represented, while the Big 12 and SEC have three apiece.
Check out the full rankings below:
AP Poll Week 18
Rank | Team | Record | Conference | Previous Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia | 28-2 | ACC | 1 |
| 2 | Villanova | 27-4 | Big East | 4 |
| 3 | Xavier | 27-4 | Big East | 3 |
| 4 | Michigan State | 29-4 | Big Ten | 2 |
| 5 | Duke | 25-6 | ACC | 5 |
| 6 | Gonzaga | 28-4 | West Coast | 7 |
| 7 | Michigan | 28-7 | Big Ten | 15 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 27-4 | AAC | 10 |
| 9 | Kansas | 24-7 | Big 12 | 6 |
| 10 | Purdue | 28-6 | Big Ten | 8 |
| 11 | Wichita State | 24-6 | AAC | 11 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 22-9 | ACC | 9 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 23-7 | SEC | 16 |
| 14 | Texas Tech | 23-8 | Big 12 | 12 |
| 15 | Arizona | 24-7 | Pac-12 | 19 |
| 16 | Auburn | 25-6 | SEC | 14 |
| 17 | Ohio State | 24-8 | Big Ten | 13 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 22-9 | Big 12 | 20 |
| 19 | Clemson | 22-8 | ACC | 18 |
| 20 | Saint Mary's | 28-4 | West Coast | 22 |
| 21 | Houston | 24-6 | AAC | 25 |
| 22 | Nevada | 26-6 | Mountain West | 21 |
| 23 | Florida | 20-11 | SEC | NR |
| 24 | Miami | 22-8 | ACC | NR |
| 25 | Rhode Island | 23-6 | A-10 | 17 |
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