Baylor the latest to earn top spot in AP poll

Baylor and Gonzaga were the only two teams in the top five that took care of business last week.

That doesn’t mean they didn’t move around, too.

The Bears (16-1 after their victory over Oklahoma on Monday) leaped over the Bulldogs and into the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll on Monday, using wins over Iowa State and Oklahoma State to give the Top 25 its seventh team on top this season. That matches the record set in 1983 for the most No. 1s in the history of the poll, which dates to the 1948-49 season.

Gonzaga (20-1) was merely a victim of its conference schedule. The Bulldogs blew out Santa Clara and BYU, but just enough voters considered those wins to be less impressive than the Bears’ perfect Big 12 start. Baylor received 33 first-place votes and had 1,591 points from the 65-member media panel while Gonzaga received 31 first-place votes for 1,588 points.

“It takes a team to win,” said Baylor coach Scott Drew, whose team also reached the top of the poll two years ago. “As a coach, you’re just really proud when different people step up, especially guys that have been working hard.”

The rest of the top five looks a whole lot different after Duke, Auburn and Butler all lost both of their games last week.

Kansas (14-3) rose three spots to No. 3 after victories over Oklahoma and Texas, the latter requiring a big comeback in Austin.

NO. 1 BAYLOR 61, OKLAHOMA 57 >> MaCio Teague had 16 points, fellow transfer Davion Mitchell had 13 and Baylor held on to win its first-ever home game as the No. 1 team. The Bears are 6-0 in conference play for the first time since winning their first 10 Southwest Conference games in 1948.

Women

South Carolina still sits atop the AP women’s poll, with Baylor in second place.

The Gamecocks received 22 first-place votes from a 30-member media panel. The Lady Bears got six.

UConn moved up to third after previous No. 3 Stanford lost to Oregon by 32 points. The Ducks moved up to No. 4. Louisville was fifth, sandwiched between Oregon and Stanford.