For the second time this season following a loss to Kansas, Oklahoma basketball remained unchanged in the national polls.
The Sooners stayed at No. 3 in both the Associated Press Top 25 and the USA Today Coaches Poll. That shows true respect for Oklahoma basketball, which has now lost games in consecutive weekends, both to teams from the state of Kansas, to go 20-4 on the season.
Kansas got even more respect than the Sooners, and rightfully so after beating OU in Norman on Saturday, jumping five positions in both national polls to replace Maryland in the No. 2 spot this week.
Former No. 2 Maryland also lost on Saturday, falling at home to unranked Wisconsin. That loss cost the Terrapins to drop down five places, essentially trading places with the Jayhawks out of the Big 12.
Villanova, at No. 1, North Carolina and Maryland round out the top five in the USA Today poll, while the AP top five consists of Villanova, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa and North Carolina.
West Virginia, Iowa State, Texas and Baylor are also ranked in both polls this week, and Texas Tech received votes in the coaches’ poll. The Sooners have road dates at both Texas Tech and West Virginia this week.
Joe Lunardi, ESPN “Bracketology” guru, still likes Oklahoma as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament as of today, but he dropped the Sooners to the No. 3 seed overall with Villanova taking over as the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed just three weeks out from the conference championship tournaments. Kansas and North Carolina sit in Lunardi’s other two No. 1 seed spots this week.
In terms of Daily RPI, Kansas is No. 1 and Oklahoma No. 2, followed by Villanova, Oregon and Virginia. In the ESPN College Basketball Power Index, it is North Carolina No. 1, Oklahoma No. 2 and Villanova No. 3. Kansas is No. 7 in the BPI despite the Jayhawks big win at Oklahoma. Go figure.
The Basketball Power Index claims to go beyond just wins and losses, projecting how powerful a team is likely to be going forward in the schedule.