College basketball rankings: Dayton cracks top five of AP Top 25 for first time in 64 years

The last time Dayton was in the top five of the AP poll was in 1956

By David Cobb

Feb 17, 2020 at 12:26 pm ET • 2 min read

Dayton is a top five college basketball team for the first time in 64 years. The Flyers jumped a spot in the AP Top 25 on Monday to No. 5 after a 2-0 week that included a convincing 81-67 victory over a Rhode Island team projected to make the NCAA Tournament.

It marks the first time since the 1955-56 season that the Flyers have reached the top five in the AP poll. Dayton (23-2, 12-0 Atlantic 10) has won 14 straight games and is just six wins away from going undefeated in conference play for the first time in program history.

Staying in the top five won't be a cakewalk for Dayton, though. The Flyers have two Quadrant 1 road games remaining on their schedule, starting with a Tuesday trip to VCU. Dayton must also face Rhode Island on the road in the final week of the regular season.

Dayton benefited from an 0-2 week for Louisville, which dropped from No. 5 to No. 11. The Cardinals (21-5, 12-3 ACC) play Syracuse and North Carolina this week as they try and regroup from their worst week of the season. The Cardinals weren't the only team to fall from the top 10. Seton Hall fell from No. 10 to No. 16 after an 0-2 week. One of the Pirates' losses came against Creighton, which made the biggest surge of the week from No. 23 to No. 15.

Texas Tech, LSU and Illinois each dropped out of the poll after losses and were replaced by BYU, Arizona and Ohio State.

LSU's departure left the SEC with just two ranked teams -- No. 10 Kentucky and No. 13 Auburn. BYU's entry into the AP Poll for the first time since 2011 sets up a showdown with No. 2 Gonzaga on Saturday.

AP Top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' Top 25 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Sunday, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

Rank	Team	Record	Points	Previous
1	Baylor (48)	23-1	1559	1
2	Gonzaga (14)	26-1	1518	2
3	Kansas (1)	22-3	1434	3
4	San Diego State	26-0	1518	4
5	Dayton	23-2	1294	6
6	Duke	22-3	1285	7
7	Maryland	21-4	1194	9
8	Florida State	21-4	1088	8
9	Penn State	20-5	1024	13
10	Kentucky	20-5	1011	12
11	Louisville	21-5	837	5
12	Villanova	19-6	824	15
13	Auburn	22-3	818	11
14	Oregon	20-6	742	17
15	Creighton	20-6	718	23
16	Seton Hall	18-7	672	10
17	West Virginia	18-7	552	14
18	Colorado	20-6	501	16
19	Marquette	17-7	404	18
20	Iowa	18-8	254	21
21	Butler	19-7	242	19
22	Houston	20-6	237	20
23	BYU	21-7	188	NR
24	Arizona	18-7	102	NR
25	Ohio State	17-8	95	NR