Baylor is No. 1 for a second straight week in an AP Top 25 poll that had no major changes at the top, a rare bit of stability in a wildly unpredictable season.
Houston made the biggest jump in a week that featured only modest climbs or slides, rising four spots to No. 21. No. 20 Colorado moved up three spots, while No. 12 West Virginia, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 15 Maryland and No. 19 Illinois each rose two spots.
The Bears stayed well ahead of No. 2 Gonzaga in Monday’s poll, part of an unchanged top seven for the first time this season. The only change in the top 10 came with Villanova moving up a spot to No. 8 to swap positions with No. 9 Duke. That comes in a season that has seen seven different teams reach No. 1 this season, matching a record set during the 1982-83 season.
Gonzaga (21-1) earned 19 first-place votes to remain either No. 1 or No. 2 in the poll since the middle of December.
Michigan State and Butler had the biggest slides of the week.
The Spartans — who started the year at No. 1 — fell three spots to No. 14 after losing at Indiana. The Bulldogs also fell three spots to No. 16 after losing to Villanova, the final loss in a three-game skid that had dropped Butler from No. 5 two weeks ago.
The other falls were Duke, No. 17 Auburn and No. 25 Rutgers inching down one spot.
No. 22 LSU, No. 23 Wichita State and No. 24 Penn State were the week’s new additions, re-entering the poll after appearances earlier this season.
Texas Tech (No. 18), Memphis (No. 20) and Arizona (No. 22) fell out of the rankings. The Tigers had been ranked all season, while this is the second time that the Red Raiders and Wildcats have fallen out of the poll.
A convincing win at Florida helped Baylor overtake Gonzaga for No. 1 in this week's USA Today Coaches Poll, ending a split between the Coaches Poll and the AP Top 25 over who is the top team in college basketball.
Illinois moved up to No. 19 in the Coaches Poll, their same position in the AP Poll.
Gonzaga, which is No. 2 in both polls this week, did little to deserve a demotion. The Zags thrashed Pacific 92-59 in their only game last week. But Baylor's 6-0 start in a tougher conference appears to be currying favor around the country.
The Bears beat Florida 72-61 as underdogs on Saturday to help the Big 12 salvage a 5-5 split in the Big 12/SEC Challenge. It was Baylor's sixth win this season in Quadrant 1 games, bringing the Bears' record to 6-1 in those games with seven projected Quadrant 1 games remaining on their schedule. The Bears have won 16 straight since a neutral site loss to Washington on Nov. 8.
Gonzaga is 4-1 in Quadrant 1 games and is projected to have just two more during the regular season as the Zags attempt to go undefeated in West Coast Conference play for a second straight season.
The top eight teams in the Coaches Poll remained unchanged. Michigan State was the only team to drop out of the top 10 after a 1-1 week that included a loss at Indiana and a win at Minnesota.
Villanova crept up from No. 11 to No. 10, replacing the Spartans in the top 10. Texas Tech, Arizona and Memphis each dropped out of the poll with LSU, Penn State and Colorado replacing them.
