Baylor Bears become fourth No. 1 in last four weeks in AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll

The Bears became the fourth team in four weeks to hold a No. 1 ranking this season and are now 10-0 for the first time since 2009 when they were ranked second nationally according to AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll released Tuesday night

The “ap poll” is a ranking for the top 25 men’s college basketball teams in the United States. The Baylor Bears became the fourth No. 1 in last four weeks of the poll.

Last season, Baylor won the national title despite never being ranked first in the AP Top 25.

The Bears have arrived.

Baylor took advantage of Purdue’s last-second defeat to Rutgers last week to become the fourth club to hold the top spot in the previous four weeks. The Bears received every vote from a 61-member national media panel on Monday, reclaiming the top place in the poll for the first time since their four-week winning streak ended on Feb. 17, 2020.

“”Every coach will tell you that the objective is to be No. 1 at the end of the year,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said, “but it always means something.” It matters a lot to your supporters. It has significance for your coaches, players, and everyone else. It’s a terrific show of appreciation for those who came before you and the hard work they put in.”

The Bears (9-0) were followed by former No. 1s Duke and Purdue, as well as UCLA and Gonzaga, which started the season atop the poll and stayed there for the first two weeks before losing three games in a row to the Blue Devils and Alabama.

Baylor has won 15 straight games, none by less than eight points, including a spectacular 86-70 victory against Gonzaga for the national championship in April. To begin the season, the Bears defeated Stanford, Arizona State, and Michigan State before stifling then-No. 6 Villanova in a 57-36 victory on Sunday.

Villanova coach Jay Wright stated, “That squad was fantastic last year.” “I believe this squad is really excellent and has the potential to be much better.”

Never mind that Baylor’s stellar backcourt of Davion Mitchell, Jared Butler, and MaCio Teague, as well as do-it-all big Mark Vital, were all missing. Returning forwards Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua and Flo Thamba have dominated inside, while Arizona transfer James Akinjo and freshman guard Kendall Brown have picked up some of the scoring.

“When you lose guys like that, people assume you’re going to have to rebuild,” Akinjo said. “However, our coaches did an excellent job of bringing this squad together, not just in terms of quality, but also in terms of how we would fit.”

After defeating then-No. 14 Houston on Saturday, the Crimson Tide climbed three positions to lead the second five in the AP poll on Monday. They were followed by Kansas, Arizona, Villanova, and Southern California, all of whom were undefeated.

“I can’t be too angry if we haven’t lost,” Trojans coach Andy Enfield said. “But there are always things to clean up and become better at.” “Our ambition is to be a top-tier defensive unit, but we’re not quite there yet. I’m pleased with the group. We’re ecstatic to be a perfect 10-0 team.”

Iowa State, one of just seven Division I teams still undefeated, surged six positions to No. 11 after cruising through Iowa and avoiding a letdown against Jacksonville State. Michigan State, Auburn, Houston, and Ohio State were next in line, with Seton Hall, Texas, Tennessee, LSU, and UConn rounding out the top 20.

The vote was completed by Kentucky, Xavier, Colorado State, Arkansas, and Texas Tech.

THE RISING AND FALLING OF THINGS

The largest jumps were made by Michigan State and Seton Hall, with the Spartans advancing seven positions to No. 12 following victories over Minnesota and Penn State, and Seton Hall leaping to No. 16 after upsetting Texas on Thursday night.

The Longhorns have slid ten positions to No. 17 in the rankings. After losing to Notre Dame on Saturday, Kentucky dropped 11 spots to No. 21.

GOODBYE AND HELLO

After the Rams went 10-0 for the second time in school history, Xavier entered the poll at No. 22 with Colorado State just behind them. After their overtime victory against Tennessee, the Red Raiders moved up to No. 25 in the rankings.

“[Mississippi State] has aspirations of competing in the SEC and getting to the NCAA tournament.” After a victory against Georgia, Colorado State coach Nico Medved stated, “We have those types of ambitions, too.” We planned these games and knew we needed to win at least a few of them. So far, the lads have been able to rise to the occasion.”

Wisconsin was ranked No. 22 last week, but after losing to Ohio State, it was the first team outside the Top 25 to get votes this week. BYU, which was 20th before losing to Maryland and then-winless Texas Southern on Saturday, and Florida, which was 20th before losing to Maryland and then-winless Texas Southern, both dropped out.

WATCH THE CONFERENCE

SECTION: 6 (Nos. 6, 13, 18, 19, 21, 24)

5 out of the Big 12 (Nos. 1, 7, 11, 17, 25)

4 in the Big East (Nos. 9, 16, 21, 22)

3 in the Big Ten (Nos. 3, 12, 15)

Pacific-12: 3 (Nos. 4, 8, 10)

1 ACC: (No. 2)

1 on the West Coast (No. 5)

1 – American Athletic (No. 14)

1 in the Mountain West (No. 23)

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The “college basketball today” is a sport that has been dominated by the same teams for years. This year, however, four different teams have risen to the top of the polls in the last four weeks. The Baylor Bears are one of those teams.

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