With Selection Sunday now only six days away, this will be the final poll before teams are more affectionately referenced with their NCAA Tournament seeding rather than by their rankings. And Kansas appears poised to parlay its No. 1 ranking, which it holds for a second straight week, into a No. 1 seed when the selection committee hands down its field of 68 teams.

 

Not only did the Jayhawks win the Big 12 for the 13th consecutive season, they did it with a four-game cushion. Kansas beat everyone in the Big 12 this season at least once, finished the regular season 28-3 with wins over Duke and Kentucky among them, and knocked off a red-hot Oklahoma State team on the road on Saturday. The Jayhawks are surging with the heat of March turning up.

 

The final coaches poll of the regular season has Kansas still on top but UCLA falls to No. 3 after being tied with Villanova at No. 2. 

 

And how about this newcomer to the rankings: Middle Tennessee is now a top-25 team. The Blue Raiders are the favorites to win the C-USA Tournament. 

 

Elsewhere, Butler’s home loss to Seton Hall results in the Bulldogs taking the biggest drop this week, going from 15th to 20th. 

 

And there are three Pac-12 teams in the top seven. 

 

This time next week, we’ll know the entire field of 68 teams.