NCAA basketball rankings: Duke Blue Devils close out the season at No. 1
Trio of ACC squads finish atop the final AP Poll of the season.
The final AP Poll was released today, led by the ACC tournament champion Duke Blue Devils. Zion Williamson returned from his knee injury for the tournament, and added Most Outstanding Player to the litany of regular-season awards he collected. The Blue Devils got 58 first place votes, six shy of being the unanimous No. 1.
The Virginia Cavaliers took five of those first place votes and held steady at No. 2 this week, despite its ACC tourney semifinal loss to Florida State. North Carolina — which joined Duke and UVA on the No. 1 seed line in the NCAA tournament — came in at No. 3 this week, and Gonzaga dropped to No. 4 after losing to St. Mary’s in the WCC tournament finals. Big Ten tourney champ Michigan State rounds out the top five.
Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas Tech, and Florida State complete the top 10.
Maryland and Marquette fell out of the rankings in the final week, leaving room for Big 12 champ Iowa State and the Mountain West’s Utah State.
The ACC led with five teams ranked, with three in the top three. The Big Ten, Big 12, and SEC all had four teams represented this week.
Here’s the full poll: