It was to be expected that Indiana’s stunning overtime loss at the hands of Fort Wayne would cost the Hoosiers their No. 3 ranking, but the upset loss wound up dropping Tom Crean’s team completely out of the top 10. IU tumbled 10 spots all the way down to No. 13 in the latest edition of the AP Poll, the steepest drop of any team in the rankings.
Kentucky held on to the No. 1 spot for a second straight week, earning 40 of the possible 65 first-place votes. The other votes for the top spot went to No. 2 Villanova (20), No. 3 North Carolina (4), and No. 9 Baylor (1).
After a week in which it defeated Vanderbilt and Arizona, 6-0 Butler made its first poll appearance of the season, checking in at No. 18. No. 20 South Carolina, which knocked off Michigan and Syracuse, and No. 24 Florida also made their debuts in the rankings.
Here’s the complete AP Poll for this week:
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 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 | |||
