Michigan State Still No. 1in AP and Coaches Polls

The gap between the Michigan State Spartans and the rest of college basketball continues to grow, as Tom Izzo’s squad is the No. 1 team in America in both of college basketball’s major polls.

Michigan State, which will be without the services of national player of the year contender Denzel Valentine for 2-3 weeks, received 64 of a possible 65 first-place votes in this week’s Associated Press Poll and 29 of a possible 31 first-place votes in the Coaches Poll.

The Spartans’ top challenger is different in both polls, but each team comes from the Big 12. The AP put Kansas in the No. 2 spot, while the Coaches Poll has Oklahoma.

Here’s this week’s AP Poll:

  1. Michigan State (64 first-place votes)
  2. Kansas (1)
  3. Oklahoma
  4. Maryland
  5. Virginia
  6. Xavier
  7. North Carolina
  8. Arizona
  9. Butler
  10. Providence
  11. Iowa State
  12. Kentucky
  13. Miami (FL)
  14. Purdue
  15. Duke
  16. Louisville
  17. Villanova
  18. SMU
  19. West Virginia
  20. George Washington
  21. Texas A&M
  22. Cincinnati
  23. Baylor
  24. Utah
  25. South Carolina

And here’s this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll:

  1. Michigan State (29)
  2. Oklahoma (2)
  3. Kansas
  4. Maryland
  5. Virginia
  6. Xavier
  7. North Carolina
  8. Arizona
  9. Iowa State
  10. Duke
  11. Kentucky
  12. Butler
  13. Purdue
  14. Providence
  15. Louisville
  16. Miami (FL)
  17. Villanova
  18. West Virginia
  19. Texas A&M
  20. George Washington
  21. Cincinnati
  22. Baylor
  23. South Carolina
  24. Gonzaga
  25. Vanderbilt