Kansas center Hunter Mickelson (42) goes for a block against West Virginia guard Tarik Phillip (12) during the Jayhawks game against the West Virginia Mountaineers Tuesday, March 4, 2015 at Allen Fieldhouse..

Kansas stayed at No. 9 in the Associated Press college basketball poll, released today. Maryland replaced Wichita State at No. 8 and the Shockers dropped to 12th.

The top 25 teams in APpoll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, 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. Kentucky (65) 31-0 1,625 1
2. Duke 28-3 1,544 3
3. Virginia 28-2 1,454 2
4. Villanova 29-2 1,444 4
5. Arizona 28-3 1,360 5
6. Wisconsin 28-3 1,344 6
7. Gonzaga 30-2 1,229 7
8. Maryland 26-5 1,103 10
9. Kansas 24-7 1,040 9
10. N. Iowa 30-3 1,037 11
11. Notre Dame 26-5 1,026 12
12. Wichita St. 28-4 797 8
13. Iowa St. 22-8 786 17
14. Louisville 24-7 780 16
15. Oklahoma 21-9 772 15
16. Baylor 23-8 701 14
17. Utah 23-7 587 13
18. West Virginia 23-8 525 20
19. North Carolina 21-10 406 19
20. SMU 24-6 339 22
21. Arkansas 24-7 300 18
22. Butler 22-9 287 21
23. Georgetown 20-9 223 _
24. Davidson 23-6 99 _
25. Boise St. 24-7 82 _

Others receiving votes: Oregon 69, Providence 63, Ohio St. 40, BYU 18, Michigan St. 15, LSU 8, Iowa 7, St. John’s 6, San Diego St. 3, Stephen F. Austin 2, Dayton 1, North Florida 1, Purdue 1, Valparaiso 1.

My AP top 25 ballot:

1 – Kentucky: Wildcats (31-0) are fifth team since Indiana’s 1976 undefeated national championship team to make it through regular season undefeated. The others: Indiana State (1978-79, 26-0), UNLV (1990-91, 27-0), St. Joseph’s (2003-2004, 27-0), Wichita State (2013-14, 31-0).

2 – Virginia: Senior star Justin Anderson had hoped to return to the lineup Saturday after missing eight games with a broken finger, but he underwent an appendectomy Thursday. The Cavs’ 59-57 Saturday loss at Lousiville makes them 7-1 without Anderson, who is questionable for the ACC tournament.

3 – Duke: At his best in big games throughout the season, freshman point guard Tyus Jones had a second terrific performance vs. North Carolina, scoring season-high 24 points Saturday. He also has shown big improvement in the second half of the season and is shooting .446 from three and averaging 14.4 points in the past 15 games.

4 – Wisconsin: National player of year candidate Frank Kaminsky averages in past five games: 23 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 blocks, .719 overall shooting, .467 from three.

5 – Villanova: St. John’s came into Philadelphia with a four-game winning streak, the most victories (21) during the Steve Lavin era and took an 18-7 lead. Villanova outscored the high-flying Johnnies a stunning 98-50 the rest of the way.

6 – Arizona: Finished Pac-12 regular season in style, destroying California by 39 and Stanford by 22. T.J. McConnell (11 assists both games) and Brandon Ashley (averaged 18 points, 7.5 rebounds and made 13 of 19 field goals and 10 of 12 free throws) had huge weeks.

7 – Gonzaga: This will be 16th time in 16 seasons under Mark Few that Zags make the tournament. This could be the year Few makes the Elite Eight for the first time. He has made it to the Sweet 16 in four seasons, including his first two. Zags have lost in Round of 32 in each of past five seasons. With so much size and skill, this looks like the best Gonzaga team ever.

8 – Maryland: Turge’s Terps finished Big Ten season riding seven-game winning streak with Dez Wells averaging 18.7 points. In final two games, victories at Rutgers and at Nebraska, Wells averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds. Let’s see, Maryland used to be in the ACC, Rutgers the Big East and Nebraska the Big 12. It still feels weird to call those games Big Ten matchups.

9 – Notre Dame: Irish are nation’s No. 1 two-point shooting team (.586) and rank 24th in nation with .390 three-point percentage. They don’t play rugged defense, but at least make teams earn it from the field by not fouling very often.

10 – Kansas: Frank Mason, Brannen Greene, Devonte Graham and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk have combined for nine blocked shots in 2,157 minutes. Hunter Mickelson has 14 blocked shots in 109 minutes.

11 – Oklahoma: Sooners try to make it three victories in one season vs. in-state rival. Whatever Cowboys have tried to do to throw off Buddy Hield’s shot hasn’t worked. In two games he has made 15 of 18 shots, including 5 of 6 three-pointers and has averaged 21 points.

12 – Iowa State: In conference games, Monte Morris leads Big 12 in assists (5.44) and assists-to-turnovers (4.08) and ranks second in minutes (34.5), field-goal percentage (.518) and steals (tied with two others at 1.72). Most underrated player in conference.

13 – Louisville: Mangok Mathiang, averaging 2.6 points, had not taken a shot until making a 15-footer with 2.7 seconds left to deliver Louisville a 59-57 victory vs. Virginia. Rick Pitino: “Mangok was the 64th option.” Mathiang: “I was just shocked that I made it.”

14 – Baylor: Rare is the conference that can pit teams as good as Baylor and West Virginia against each other in first-round conference tournament game..

15 – West Virginia: Mountaineers looking to avenge regular-season sweep by Baylor, which won the two games by average margin of 15 points.

16 – North Carolina: Tar Heels have lost 6 of 10, but four of the losses were to top 10 teams, two coming in overtime.

17 – Utah: First 25 games: 21-4; Past five games: 2-3. Three-point shooting percentage in 23 victories: .435, compared to .297 in seven losses.

18 – Northern Iowa: Down 36-22 at halftime vs. Illinois State in the Missouri Valley conference tournament title game, the Panthers took over the game with a 25-4 run..

19 – Wichita State: Ron Baker was held scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in second half in loss to Illinois State. At the half, Baker had 13 points, four rebounds and five assists.

20 – Oregon: Ducks finished Pac-12 regular season on five-game winning streak, including 11-point victory vs. Utah. Only loss in past 10 games came at UCLA.

21 – Georgetown: Hoyas tied for second with Butler in Big East by going 5-1 at end of schedule.

22 – Arkansas: Sophomore center Bobby Portis averaging 17.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots.

23 – Michigan State: Guard Travis Trice, who scored 18 of his 21 points Saturday in the second half in 74-72 victory at Indiana, getting hot just in time for postseason. Averaged 20.8 points in last six games

24 – Butler: Coach Chris Holtmann took over on an interim basis in October when Brandon Miller requested a medical leave of absence. He was named permanent head coach in January, meaning his gamble of leaving his post as head coach at Gardner-Webb for an assistant’s job at Butler paid off. Holtmann’s records at Gardner-Webb: 11-21, 12-20, 21-13, an impressive turn-around.

25 – Purdue: If I see the Boilermakers listed as a bubble team one more time my head will explode. The Boilermakers tied for third in the always-strong Big Ten with 12-6 record.