For the sixth time this season, college basketball has a new No. 1. After No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 North Carolina each lost on Saturday, Villanova has ascended to the top spot in both the AP and Coaches Poll, released on Monday. It’s the first time ‘Nova has ever been No. 1 in the AP Poll.
NCAA basketball rankings 2016: Villanova is your new No. 1
The Wildcats top the Coaches Poll in the latest set of rankings.
Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The Wildcats earned a 72-60 win over No. 11 Providence this past weekend and have won 12 of their last 13 games. In a telling sign of just how wild this season has been, Villanova lost to Oklahoma -- the team it replaces as No. 1 -- by 23 points earlier this season.
Maryland, now No. 2 in the polls, continues to find a way to win close games. The Terrapins are 19-2 in games decided by six points or less over the last two years after winning a close game against Nebraska last week. Oklahoma fell to No. 3 after its loss to Kansas State, while UNC dropped to No. 8 after losing to Notre Dame.
In the first week of February alone, top 25 teams have lost 16 times, 10 of which came against unranked teams. Yeah, it’s going to be a fun tournament. Here are this week’s latest polls:
AP Top 25
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
| 1 | Villanova Wildcats (32) | 20-3 | 1,566 |
| 2 | Maryland Terrapins (13) | 21-3 | 1,499 |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners (7) | 19-3 | 1,472 |
| 4 | Iowa Hawkeyes (11) | 19-4 | 1,471 |
| 5 | Xavier Musketeers | 21-2 | 1,382 |
| 6 | Kansas Jayhawks (1) | 19-4 | 1,311 |
| 7 | Virginia Cavaliers (1) | 19-4 | 1,223 |
| 8 | Michigan State Spartans | 20-4 | 1,144 |
| 9 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 19-4 | 1,136 |
| 10 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 19-4 | 1,082 |
| 11 | Oregon Ducks | 20-4 | 905 |
| 12 | Miami-Florida Hurricanes | 18-4 | 826 |
| 13 | Louisville Cardinals | 19-4 | 819 |
| 14 | Iowa State Cyclones | 17-6 | 781 |
| 15 | Texas A&M Aggies | 18-5 | 663 |
| 16 | SMU Mustangs | 20-2 | 593 |
| 17 | Arizona Wildcats | 19-5 | 497 |
| 18 | Purdue Boilermakers | 19-5 | 456 |
| 19 | Dayton Flyers | 19-3 | 413 |
| 20 | Providence Friars | 18-6 | 349 |
| 21 | Baylor Bears | 17-6 | 333 |
| 22 | Kentucky Wildcats | 17-6 | 228 |
| 23 | USC Trojans | 18-5 | 225 |
| 24 | Texas Longhorns | 16-7 | 199 |
| 25 | Wichita State Shockers | 17-6 | 132 |
| Others receiving votes: South Carolina 128, Indiana 91, Notre Dame 75, San Diego State 22, Duke 14, Seton Hall 14, Gonzaga 10, LSU 10, VCU 10, Valparaiso 9, Stony Brook 8, Saint Mary's 6, Saint Joseph's 5, UNC Wilmington 4, Hawaii 3, Utah 3, Chattanooga 2, Connecticut 2, George Washington 2, Michigan 1, Monmouth 1 | |||
USA Today Coaches Poll
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova (11) | 20-3 | 753 |
| 2 | Maryland (11) | 21-3 | 749 |
| 3 | Oklahoma (3) | 19-3 | 708 |
| 4 | Xavier | 21-2 | 683 |
| 5 | Iowa (3) | 19-4 | 674 |
| 6 | Kansas (2) | 19-4 | 670 |
| 7 | Virginia | 19-4 | 616 |
| 8 | North Carolina (1) | 19-4 | 599 |
| 9 | Michigan State (1) | 20-4 | 567 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 19-4 | 490 |
| 11 | Miami (FL) | 18-4 | 433 |
| 12 | Oregon | 20-4 | 423 |
| 13 | Texas A&M | 18-5 | 387 |
| 14 | Arizona | 19-5 | 310 |
| 15 | Iowa State | 17-6 | 307 |
| 16 | Purdue | 19-5 | 292 |
| 17 | Dayton | 19-3 | 236 |
| 17 | Providence | 18-6 | 236 |
| 19 | Baylor | 17-6 | 221 |
| 20 | South Carolina | 20-3 | 185 |
| 21 | Kentucky | 17-6 | 178 |
| 22 | Indiana | 19-5 | 119 |
| 23 | USC | 18-5 | 105 |
| 24 | Wichita St | 17-6 | 91 |
| 25 | Texas | 16-7 | 69 |
| Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 63, Gonzaga 53, Duke 40, Saint Mary's 28, Pittsburgh 25, Seton Hall 21, Valparaiso 14, Louisville 12, Monmouth 12, Utah 12, VCU 8, LSU 5, Saint Joseph's 2, Stony Brook 1, California 1, Clemson 1, Arkansas-Little Rock 1 | |||
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