KU moves up to No. 4 in AP, No. 5 in coaches poll

Kansas guard Elijah Johnson swoops into the lane under Oklahoma State forward Le'Bryan Nash as the Jayhawks work against a zone defense during the second half on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012 at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas men’s basketball team moved up three spots to No. 4 in the Associated Press poll, while jumping five spots to No. 5 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. Both rankings were released Monday.

The top three teams are the same in both polls: Kentucky is No. 1, followed by Syracuse and Missouri.

The only other Big 12 team in the polls besides Missouri and Kansas is Baylor, which fell to No. 9 in the AP and No. 10 in the coaches poll after losses to both KU and MU last week.

Also of note: Wichita State entered the AP rankings tied for No. 24 after its road victory over Creighton on Saturday. WSU is the last team left off the rankings in the coaches poll.

The full rankings are below.

Associated Press poll

  1. Kentucky (63) 25-1 1,623 1
  2. Syracuse (2) 25-1 1,559 2
  3. Missouri 23-2 1,498 4
  4. Kansas 20-5 1,356 7
  5. Duke 21-4 1,336 10
  6. Ohio St. 21-4 1,284 3
  7. Michigan St. 20-5 1,283 11
  8. North Carolina 21-4 1,227 5
  9. Baylor 21-4 1,064 6
  10. Georgetown 19-5 983 12
  11. UNLV 22-4 976 14
  12. Marquette 21-5 810 18
  13. San Diego St. 20-4 688 13
  14. Florida 19-6 675 8
  15. Wisconsin 19-6 635 21
  16. Murray St. 24-1 600 9
  17. Michigan 19-7 562 22
  18. Indiana 19-6 430 23
  19. Louisville 20-5 421 24
  20. Florida St. 17-7 406 15
  21. Saint Mary’s (Cal) 23-3 377 16
  22. Virginia 19-5 337 19
  23. Notre Dame 17-8 231 —
  24. Gonzaga 20-4 221 —
  25. Wichita St. 22-4 221 —

• — Note: Gonzaga and Wichita State tied for 24th.

Others receiving votes: Temple 122, Mississippi St. 108, Creighton 20, BYU 12, Long Beach St. 12, New Mexico 12, Iowa St. 10, Southern Miss. 7, Harvard 6, Saint Louis 5, California 3, VCU 2, Vanderbilt 2, Memphis 1.

ESPN/USA Today coaches poll

  1. Kentucky (31) 25-1 775 1
  2. Syracuse 25-1 744 2
  3. Missouri 23-2 713 4
  4. Duke 21-4 649 9
  5. Kansas 20-5 628 10
  6. Ohio State 21-4 618 3
  7. North Carolina 21-4 592 5
  8. Michigan State 20-5 588 12
  9. Georgetown 19-5 476 11
  10. Baylor 21-4 464 6
  11. UNLV 22-4 455 16
  12. Florida 19-6 388 t7
  13. Marquette 21-5 386 19
  14. Murray State 24-1 359 t7
  15. San Diego State 20-4 284 14
  16. Saint Mary’s 23-3 274 13
  17. Wisconsin 19-6 255 22
  18. Louisville 20-5 236 t23
  19. Michigan 19-7 190 25
  20. Indiana 19-6 188 t23
  21. Florida State 17-7 145 17
  22. Virginia 19-5 134 20
  23. Mississippi State 19-6 95 18
  24. Gonzaga 20-4 84 NR
  25. Notre Dame 17-8 76 NR

Others receiving votes: Wichita State 63; Temple 48; Creighton 30; Harvard 22; Nevada 21; Long Beach State 17; New Mexico 17; California 15; Southern Mississippi 12; Drexel 11; Middle Tennessee 8; Iowa State 7; Saint Louis 4; Virginia Commonwealth 3; Texas-Arlington 1.