Duke rose four spots to No. 2 in Monday’s new Coaches Poll, reaping the benefits of weekend losses for several other highly ranked teams. Gonzaga remained at No. 1 in the poll with 20 of the possible 32 first-place votes, despite losing to St. Mary’s on Saturday night.
The Blue Devils received nine first-place votes to challenge the Zags for the top spot after a 97-72 win at Syracuse that improved them to 25-4 (15-3 ACC) in coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season before retiring. No. 4 Baylor, No. 5 Auburn and No. 6 Kentucky each received a single vote for No. 1 in a sign of just how congested things are at the top of the sport entering March.
Baylor made the week’s biggest rise, jumping from No. 11 to No. 4 following a win over Kansas on Saturday. The Jayhawks dropped two spots to No. 7 following the loss. Tennessee rose four spots to No. 13 after beating Auburn on Saturday, and Arkansas rose three spots to No. 15 after taking down Kentucky. The Volunteers and Razorbacks are set for a Saturday showdown that could end up being for a share of the league title.
Both Purdue (No. 9) and Wisconsin (No. 10) are also in the top 10 this week as they prepare for a huge clash on Tuesday with Big Ten title implications. St. Mary’s received only a three-spot bump to No. 20 even after handing Gonzaga its first loss since Dec. 4. Murray State also dropped a spot to No. 22 after needing late heroics to win at Southeast Missouri State. The victory capped an 18-0 regular season in Ohio Valley Conference play for the Racers and came just two days after they blew out a quality Belmont program.
Check out the Coaches Poll top 25 below. First-place votes are in parenthesis.
1. Gonzaga (20)
2. Duke (9)
3. Arizona
4. Baylor (1)
5. Auburn (1)
6. Kentucky (1)
7. Kansas
8. Providence
9. Purdue
10. Wisconsin
11. Villanova
12. Texas Tech
13. Tennessee
14. Houston
15. Arkansas
16. Southern California
17. Illinois
18. UCLA
19. Connecticut
20. Saint Mary’s
21. Texas
22. Murray St.
23. Ohio St.
24. Alabama
25. Michigan St
25. Iowa
Others receiving votes: Colorado St. 14; Boise St. 13; Notre Dame 10; Marquette 9; Wake Forest 8; Wyoming 6; Seton Hall 6; North Texas 4; San Francisco 3; North Carolina 3; Iowa State 2; Creighton 2; South Dakota State 1; San Diego St. 1; Miami 1.
KVSP