Kansas Jayhawks drop out of AP Top 25 for first time in 12 years, ending record streak
Kansas has dropped out of the Associated Press college men’s basketball rankings for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
The Jayhawks (12-7, 6-5 Big 12), who went 1-1 as the country’s No. 23-ranked team last week and have lost five of their last seven games, had been included in the AP poll an NCAA-record 231 straight weeks.
KU was last unranked during Week 11 of the 2008-09 season. KU entered the poll at No. 21 the following week (Feb. 2, 2009) and has been ranked in the Top 25 ever since.
The Jayhawks are ranked No. 33 overall this week in terms of teams receiving votes.
KU set the NCAA record with 222 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP poll on Nov. 30, being ranked No. 7 and surpassing the 221 straight weeks set by UCLA from 1966-80.
Saturday’s game at West Virginia, a 91-79 loss, marked the 433rd consecutive game KU played as a ranked team.
KU lost to then-No. 17 West Virginia and defeated unranked Kansas State, 74-51, last week.
Oklahoma State, which defeated No. 6 Texas on Saturday, has moved into the rankings at No. 23 overall. The Cowboys will meet KU at 8 p.m. Monday at Allen Fieldhouse in a Big Monday contest shown on ESPN.
Missouri is ranked No. 10 this week. Also Baylor is No. 2, Texas Tech No. 7, Oklahoma No. 12, Texas No. 13, West Virginia No. 14.
Coach Bill Self predicted after Saturday’s game the Jayhawks would be unranked come Monday.
“We won’t be ranked next week, nor do we deserve to be ranked next week,” Self said Saturday. “We’ve got a chance to get back in there if we start to do some consecutive things well.
“It’s a great accomplishment. It’s sad it’s going to come to an end, those sorts of things. All we can do is hopefully play well enough to start another one (streak),” he added.
The AP poll began during the 1948-49 season.
Gonzaga topped the AP poll on Monday. The Zags were followed by Baylor, Michigan, Ohio State, Villanova, Illinois, Texas Tech, Houston, Virginia, Missouri, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, Iowa, Tennessee, Florida State, Virginia Tech, Creighton, USC, Wisconsin, Loyola, OSU, Purdue and Rutgers.
This story was originally published February 8, 2021 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Kansas Jayhawks drop out of AP Top 25 for first time in 12 years, ending record streak."
