Voters in this week’s Coaches Poll dropped UCLA a spot to No. 4, despite the fact that the Bruins clinched the Pac-12 title with road wins over Utah and Colorado last week while extending their winning streak to eight games. At 25-4 (16-2 Pac-12), UCLA owns the nation’s eighth-longest winning streak, but that was not enough for the Bruins to fend off Kansas in the poll as the Jayhawks (24-5, 12-4 Big 12) jumped a spot to No. 3.KU beat TCU and West Virginia last week, barely scraping past the Mountaineers at home.
Meanwhile, Purdue stayed put at No. 5 in the Coaches Poll even after a 79-71 home loss to Indiana which marked the Boilermakers’ fourth loss in six games.
Kansas State rose five spots to No. 11 this week after beating Baylor and Oklahoma State to get back on track. The Wildcats (22-7, 10-6 Big 12) have won three straight to prove their legitimacy once again after a stretch of four losses in five games during the heart of Big 12 play.
On the spectrum’s other end, Virginia plummeted six spots to No. 12 after losses at Boston College and North Carolina. The Cavaliers suffered the biggest fall this week, while No. 15 Miami and No. 23 Creighton also dropped four spots.
Iowa State, Northwestern and NC State were among those falling out of the poll while No. 22 TCU, No. 24 Maryland and No. 25 Pittsburgh entered to replace them. .
Coaches Poll
- Houston
- Alabama
- Kansas
- UCLA
- Purdue
- Marquette
- Texas
- Baylor
- Arizona
- Gonzaga
- Kansas State
- Virginia
- Indiana
- Tennessee
- Miami
- Saint Mary’s
- Xavier
- Connecticut
- San Diego State
- Providence
- Texas A&M
- TCU
- Creighton
- Maryland
- Pittsburgh
Also receiving votes: Northwestern 52; Kentucky 49; NC State 48; Iowa State 42; Duke 29; Florida Atlantic 26; Oral Roberts 11; Southern California 9; Nevada 5; Toledo 3; Clemson 3; Kent St. 2; Boise St. 2.
Dropped out: No. 21 Iowa State; No. 22 Northwestern; No. 24 NC State.
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