Top 25 Rankings: Kansas Jayhawks Surge Into Top Five, ISU Women Fall Again

Just last week the Iowa State men’s basketball team were on a three-game winning streak and a potential candidate for receiving some votes in the top 25 polls. They didn’t get any nominations, and backed up the voters with two straight losses with the “Hilton Screwjob” and not showing up in Norman.

Mar 8 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Iowa State Cyclones head coach Bill Fennelly against the Kansas State Wildcats during the first half of the quarters of the 2012 Big 12 Tournament at Municipal Auditorium. Kansas State beat Iowa State 67-63. Mandatory Credit: Brendan Maloney-USA TODAY Sports

However, the Big 12’s elite raised the bar this week in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls. The Kansas Jayhawks made it to fourth in the AP, two spots above where they were ranked last week. They even slipped past Duke and made it to third in the Coaches along with receiving a first-place vote. Louisville also got a first-place vote and Gonzaga, who’s ranked at the top in both polls, got the other 29 votes.

Kansas State rose to ninth (AP) and 10th (Coaches) while Oklahoma State moved up to 13th (AP) and 14th (Coaches). That will set up a top 15 matchup in both polls when the Wildcats and Cowboys meet for the regular season finale in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Iowa State will host Oklahoma State first on Wednesday night.

Unsurprisingly, Oklahoma was the only other team receiving votes in the Big 12. What is surprising is them not getting any votes in the AP while getting seven in the Coaches.

Other bad news for the Iowa State Cyclones is seeing their women’s basketball squad fall out of the AP top 25 for the second time in three weeks after an inexcusable loss at TCU. That was just the Horned Frogs’ second win in conference play. ISU still had 60 votes, good enough for 26th and just getting edged by Toledo who had 64 votes.

Brian Spaen is the lead editor of Clones Confidential. Get more Cyclones coverage by following us on Twitter and Facebook.