Illinois allowed the Big Ten Conference to keep three teams in the top six after then-No. 4 Wisconsin took a tumble with a last-second loss to Marquette. The Illini were followed by Houston, Creighton, Villanova and Duke.
Gonzaga and Baylor remained atop the AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll Monday after their hotly anticipated weekend game in Indianapolis was called off about 90 minutes before tipoff because of positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within the Bulldogs’ program.
Gonzaga received 54 of 61 first-place votes from a national media panel while the Bears had the other seven. Iowa remained third after Luka Garza’s monster week powered the Hawkeyes to a pair of easy victories, Michigan State climbed four spots to No. 4 and Kansas jumped two spots to round out the top 5.
The top 10 could get a shakeup this week. Iowa plays No. 16 North Carolina and Illinois faces the Blue Devils in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night. The Jayhawks play the Bluejays in the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
There were plenty of high-impact matchups during college basketball’s second full week, but none as widely anticipated as Gonzaga-Baylor at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The ’Zags already had knocked off the Jayhawks and No. 11 West Virginia along with Auburn while the Bears were soaring after a win over Illinois.
But when two members of the Bulldogs’ traveling party, including one player, produced a positive coronavirus test before their game was to tip on Saturday, it forced public health officials and school officials to call it off.
Gonzaga jumped Baylor to take over the top spot in the USA Today Coaches Poll in the first in-season update of the rankings. The Bears edged out the Bulldogs in the preseason poll last month by garnering 12 first-place votes to Gonzaga's 10, but the Zags on Monday received 23 of a possible 32 first-place votes to wrest hold of No. 1.
Baylor dropped one spot to No. 2 while Iowa moved up three spots to No. 3, Michigan State jumped eight spots to No. 4 and Kansas held steady at No. 5 despite a season-opening loss to Gonzaga on Nov. 26. Rounding out the top 10 is Villanova, Creighton, Houston, Illinois and West Virginia.
