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The Associated Press has released their newest Men’s Basketball Top 25 Poll for the fifth week of the 2016-17 season and Villanova is the nation's newest #1.
Jay Wright’s squad collected 57 of 65 first place votes as the Wildcats knocked off a pair of Big 5 rivals, Penn and St. Joseph’s (PA) last week by a combined 58 points.
‘Nova (8-0), who previously appeared for three weeks at the top spot of the AP’s poll starting on February 8th last season, moved up a spot from last week.
Kentucky, last week’s #1 dropped to #6 after losing to UCLA on Saturday as the Bruins jumped up to #2 in this week’s poll. Kansas, Baylor, and Duke round out the top 5.
The BIG EAST was also represented by Creighton at #10, Xavier at #13, and Butler at #16.
Villanova next returns to the court on Tuesday with a Big 5 matchup against LaSalle at The Palestra.
AP Top 25
| RANK | SCHOOL | POINTS | PREVIOUS | RECORD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova (57) | 1,613 | 2 | 8-0 |
| 2 | UCLA (2) | 1,478 | 11 | 9-0 |
| 3 | Kansas | 1,458 | 4 | 7-1 |
| 4 | Baylor (6) | 1,437 | 9 | 8-0 |
| 5 | Duke | 1,389 | 5 | 8-1 |
| 6 | Kentucky | 1,274 | 1 | 7-1 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 1,234 | 3 | 8-1 |
| 8 | Gonzaga | 1,198 | 8 | 8-0 |
| 9 | Indiana | 1,103 | 13 | 7-1 |
| 10 | Creighton | 1,003 | 10 | 8-0 |
| 11 | Louisville | 901 | 14 | 7-1 |
| 12 | Saint Mary's | 899 | 12 | 6-0 |
| 13 | Xavier | 784 | 7 | 7-1 |
| 14 | Virginia | 758 | 6 | 7-1 |
| 15 | West Virginia | 729 | 25 | 6-1 |
| 16 | Butler | 691 | 18 | 8-0 |
| 17 | Wisconsin | 655 | 17 | 7-2 |
| 18 | Purdue | 485 | 15 | 6-2 |
| 19 | South Carolina | 476 | 20 | 8-0 |
| 20 | Arizona | 320 | 16 | 6-2 |
| 21 | Florida | 285 | 24 | 7-1 |
| 22 | Cincinnati | 258 | NR | 7-1 |
| 23 | Notre Dame | 197 | NR | 8-0 |
| 24 | Oregon | 175 | 23 | 7-2 |
| 25 | Iowa State | 95 | 19 | 5-2 |
| Others receiving votes: Syracuse 45, Southern Cal 43, Ohio St. 40, TCU 33, Florida St. 18, Virginia Tech 11, California 10, Maryland 9, Valparaiso 7, Wichita St. 5, Temple 3, Michigan St. 3, Minnesota 1, IPFW 1, UNC Wilmington 1 | ||||