The Wildcats (17-1), who fell to third last week after five weeks as No. 1, moved back on top following No. 1 Baylor's loss in its only week ever as a top-ranked team.
Villanova received 28 first-place votes and 1,580 points from the 65-member national media panel on Monday while Kansas (16-1) remained No. 2 despite getting more first-place votes than the Wildcats. The Jayhawks had 32 No. 1 votes and 1,562 points.
UCLA (18-1) moved up one place to third and received three first-place votes. Gonzaga (17-0), the only unbeaten team in Division I, went from fifth to fourth and had the other two No. 1 votes.
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 15, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Villanova (28) | 17-1 | 1580 | 3 |
| 2. Kansas (32) | 16-1 | 1562 | 2 |
| 3. UCLA (3) | 18-1 | 1472 | 4 |
| 4. Gonzaga (2) | 17-0 | 1433 | 5 |
| 5. Kentucky | 15-2 | 1357 | 6 |
| 6. Baylor | 16-1 | 1315 | 1 |
| 7. West Virginia | 15-2 | 1185 | 10 |
| 7. Creighton | 17-1 | 1185 | 8 |
| 9. North Carolina | 16-3 | 1063 | 11 |
| 10. Florida State | 16-2 | 964 | 9 |
| 11. Oregon | 16-2 | 931 | 13 |
| 12. Louisville | 15-3 | 900 | 14 |
| 13. Butler | 15-3 | 823 | 12 |
| 14. Arizona | 16-2 | 757 | 16 |
| 15. Notre Dame | 16-2 | 748 | 20 |
| 16. Virginia | 13-3 | 677 | 19 |
| 17. Wisconsin | 14-3 | 644 | 18 |
| 18. Duke | 14-4 | 614 | 7 |
| 19. Florida | 14-3 | 405 | 23 |
| 20. Cincinnati | 15-2 | 373 | 22 |
| 21. Purdue | 14-4 | 309 | 17 |
| 22. Xavier | 13-4 | 294 | 15 |
| 23. Saint Mary's (Cal) | 15-2 | 210 | 21 |
| 24. South Carolina | 14-3 | 125 | — |
| 25. Maryland | 16-2 | 121 | — |
Others receiving votes: TCU 29, Southern Cal 14, SMU 8, Nevada 7, Northwestern 7, UNC-Wilmington 6, Iowa State 5, Akron 1, Kansas State 1.
