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With North Carolina falling early last week, the door remained open for the Oklahoma Sooners to take over the No. 1 spot in both polls. However, things took a turn for the unexpected as Buddy Hield and friends traveled to Manhattan, Kansas. Putting the all the marbles on the table, the Kansas State Wildcats pulled off the upset while improving to 4-0 against the Sooners at home over the past four years. Regardless, with the loss fans began to speculate who would be the new No. 1 and how far Oklahoma would fall.
We now have our answers.
Villanova takes over the top spot in both polls dropping OU to No. 3 while first places votes scatter all over the board. However, let's take a trip back to December 7th of 2015. The location? Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where the Sooners and Wildcats met in a top ten showdown. With the experience on both sides of the court, this game could have swung either way. However, OU completely dominated the outing putting up 78 points to Nova's 55.
Why bring this up?
Many of the Sooner faithful will point toward the match-up on the island as long a Nova holds down the top spot. Yet, Oklahoma is still in prime position to secure a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament...a place where rankings take a back seat to winning.
AP Top 25
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
| 1 | Villanova Wildcats (32) | 20-3 | 1,566 |
| 2 | Maryland Terrapins (13) | 21-3 | 1,499 |
| 3 | Oklahoma Sooners (7) | 19-3 | 1,472 |
| 4 | Iowa Hawkeyes (11) | 19-4 | 1,471 |
| 5 | Xavier Musketeers | 21-2 | 1,382 |
| 6 | Kansas Jayhawks (1) | 19-4 | 1,311 |
| 7 | Virginia Cavaliers (1) | 19-4 | 1,223 |
| 8 | Michigan State Spartans | 20-4 | 1,144 |
| 9 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 19-4 | 1,136 |
| 10 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 19-4 | 1,082 |
| 11 | Oregon Ducks | 20-4 | 905 |
| 12 | Miami-Florida Hurricanes | 18-4 | 826 |
| 13 | Louisville Cardinals | 19-4 | 819 |
| 14 | Iowa State Cyclones | 17-6 | 781 |
| 15 | Texas A&M Aggies | 18-5 | 663 |
| 16 | SMU Mustangs | 20-2 | 593 |
| 17 | Arizona Wildcats | 19-5 | 497 |
| 18 | Purdue Boilermakers | 19-5 | 456 |
| 19 | Dayton Flyers | 19-3 | 413 |
| 20 | Providence Friars | 18-6 | 349 |
| 21 | Baylor Bears | 17-6 | 333 |
| 22 | Kentucky Wildcats | 17-6 | 228 |
| 23 | USC Trojans | 18-5 | 225 |
| 24 | Texas Longhorns | 16-7 | 199 |
| 25 | Wichita State Shockers | 17-6 | 132 |
| Others receiving votes: South Carolina 128, Indiana 91, Notre Dame 75, San Diego State 22, Duke 14, Seton Hall 14, Gonzaga 10, LSU 10, VCU 10, Valparaiso 9, Stony Brook 8, Saint Mary's 6, Saint Joseph's 5, UNC Wilmington 4, Hawaii 3, Utah 3, Chattanooga 2, Connecticut 2, George Washington 2, Michigan 1, Monmouth 1 | |||
USA Today Coaches Poll
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Villanova (11) | 20-3 | 753 |
| 2 | Maryland (11) | 21-3 | 749 |
| 3 | Oklahoma (3) | 19-3 | 708 |
| 4 | Xavier | 21-2 | 683 |
| 5 | Iowa (3) | 19-4 | 674 |
| 6 | Kansas (2) | 19-4 | 670 |
| 7 | Virginia | 19-4 | 616 |
| 8 | North Carolina (1) | 19-4 | 599 |
| 9 | Michigan State (1) | 20-4 | 567 |
| 10 | West Virginia | 19-4 | 490 |
| 11 | Miami (FL) | 18-4 | 433 |
| 12 | Oregon | 20-4 | 423 |
| 13 | Texas A&M | 18-5 | 387 |
| 14 | Arizona | 19-5 | 310 |
| 15 | Iowa State | 17-6 | 307 |
| 16 | Purdue | 19-5 | 292 |
| 17 | Dayton | 19-3 | 236 |
| 17 | Providence | 18-6 | 236 |
| 19 | Baylor | 17-6 | 221 |
| 20 | South Carolina | 20-3 | 185 |
| 21 | Kentucky | 17-6 | 178 |
| 22 | Indiana | 19-5 | 119 |
| 23 | USC | 18-5 | 105 |
| 24 | Wichita St | 17-6 | 91 |
| 25 | Texas | 16-7 | 69 |
| Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 63, Gonzaga 53, Duke 40, Saint Mary's 28, Pittsburgh 25, Seton Hall 21, Valparaiso 14, Louisville 12, Monmouth 12, Utah 12, VCU 8, LSU 5, Saint Joseph's 2, Stony Brook 1, California 1, Clemson 1, Arkansas-Little Rock 1 | |||