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The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the newest No. 6 team in the country according to the latest AP poll, sliding up one spot from No. 7. The Virginia Cavaliers are also the unanimous No. 1 team in the country.
Villanova rose from No. 4 to No. 2, trading spots with Michigan State. Both Xavier and Duke stayed the same, at No. 3 and No. 5 respectively, to round out the top five.
The Bulldogs took over for the Kansas Jayhawks, who lost to Oklahoma State last week and tumbled from No. 6 to No. 9.
Elsewhere around the polls, Saint Mary’s rose from No. 22 to No. 20, showing exactly how pointless the polls are. All the teams around Saint Mary’s lost, and Saint Mary’s, whose bizarrely close win over Pepperdine on Saturday felt about as good as a loss does, found the space to move up solely by winning.
Ohio State fell from No. 13 to No. 17 after losing to Penn State in the Big Ten Conference Tournament. Florida moved back into the top 25, landing at No. 23 after wins over Alabama and Kentucky.
Here is the top 25 AP poll for the week.
AP Poll - Week 18
| rank | team | points | previous |
|---|---|---|---|
| rank | team | points | previous |
| 1 | Virginia (65) | 1,625 | 1 |
| 2 | Villanova | 1,516 | 4 |
| 3 | Xavier | 1,510 | 3 |
| 4 | Michigan State | 1,346 | 2 |
| 5 | Duke | 1,340 | 5 |
| 6 | Gonzaga | 1,254 | 7 |
| 7 | Michigan | 1,231 | 15 |
| 8 | Cincinnati | 1,213 | 10 |
| 9 | Kansas | 1,129 | 6 |
| 10 | Purdue | 1,096 | 8 |
| 11 | Wichita State | 861 | 11 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 852 | 9 |
| 13 | Tennessee | 825 | 16 |
| 14 | Texas Tech | 784 | 12 |
| 15 | Arizona | 739 | 19 |
| 16 | Auburn | 692 | 14 |
| 17 | Ohio State | 603 | 13 |
| 18 | West Virginia | 486 | 20 |
| 19 | Clemson | 422 | 18 |
| 20 | Saint Mary's | 385 | 22 |
| 21 | Houston | 247 | 25 |
| 22 | Nevada | 218 | 21 |
| 23 | Florida | 192 | NR |
| 24 | Miami | 191 | NR |
| 25 | Rhode Island | 86 | 17 |