Associated Press Poll
CBB History: AP Poll by the numbers
If you can’t tell from any of my past articles, I love the history of basketball, and think it’s important to learn and remember what we can about the game. With that in mind, here’s a new series covering various topics from college basketball history.
Associated Press Poll
The AP poll celebrated its 75th anniversary this past season, with the first ever poll released on January 18, 1949. The Saint Louis Billikens were the #1 team in the country, just ahead of Kentucky at #2. Western Kentucky, Minnesota, and Oklahoma State rounded out the Top 5. From 1949-1960, the AP ranked 20 teams before dropping down to a 10 team poll from 1961-1968. The Associated Press introduced a preseason poll in 1962 and, after going back to 20 teams for the 1968-1969 season, expanded to the current 25 team format for 1989-1990. Until 2024, the final AP poll has always been released prior to the NCAA Tournament. Every Monday throughout the season, over 60 voters submit their rankings and points are awarded in reverse for each ballot, so the top ranked team receives 25 points, second receives 24 points, etc. The team with the most cumulative points is the #1 team that week, and on down the line. As part of the 75th anniversary, the AP tallied every ballot since 1949 to determine the all-time Top 25. The results are below, and I recommend giving Dave Skretta’s article a full read.
I love the following line from the article, “The list is not intended to crown the greatest college basketball program, because greatness can be measured in different ways…” So, keeping that in mind, here are some other numbers from the past 75 years of the AP poll.
Most Top 10 Appearances by Decade (weeks in the Top 10)1
1950s: Kentucky (122); NC State (81); Illinois (69); Kansas State (67); Oklahoma State (57)
1960s: Duke (96); UCLA (84); Kentucky (79); Cincinnati (69); North Carolina (59)
1970s: UCLA (166); Marquette (135); North Carolina (121); Kentucky (86); Notre Dame (84)
1980s: North Carolina (134); Kentucky (97); DePaul (78); Georgetown (76); Duke & Syracuse (75)
1990s: Kansas (143); Kentucky (137); Duke (135); North Carolina (122); Arizona (105)
2000s: Duke (168); Kansas (114); North Carolina (109); Florida (91); Connecticut (85)
2010s: Duke (168); Kansas (158); Kentucky (116); Villanova (113); Michigan State (98)
2020s (to date): Kansas (84); Gonzaga (68); Baylor (63); Houston (56); Purdue (55)
All-time: Kentucky (734); Duke (731); North Carolina (705); Kansas (637); UCLA (487)
Most #1 Appearances by Decade (weeks at #1)
1950s: Kentucky (49); San Francisco (20); North Carolina (11)
1960s: UCLA (54); Cincinnati (28); Ohio State (27)
1970s: UCLA (68); Indiana (28); Kentucky (20)
1980s: North Carolina (46); Duke (17); DePaul (15)
1990s: Duke (39); Kansas (26); North Carolina (21)
2000s: Duke (41); North Carolina (26); Connecticut (18)
2010s: Kentucky (36); Duke (31); Kansas (26)
2020s (to date): Gonzaga (30); Purdue (13); Baylor & Houston (10)
All-time: Duke (145); UCLA (134); Kentucky (125); North Carolina (113); Kansas (76)
Preseason Poll
5 National Championship games featured the preseason #1 versus #2:
2021 - #2 Baylor def. #1 Gonzaga (86-70)
2001 - #2 Duke def. #1 Arizona (82-72)
1999 - #2 Connecticut def. #1 Duke (77-74)
1965 - #2 UCLA def. #1 Michigan (91-80)
1962 - #2 Cincinnati def. #1 Ohio State (71-59)
7 teams were not ranked (NR) in the preseason and went on to win the National Championship:
2023 - Connecticut (def. San Diego State 76-59)
2011 - Connecticut (def. Butler 53-41)
2006 - Florida (def. UCLA 73-57)
2003 - Syracuse (def. Kansas 81-78)
1985 - Villanova (def. Georgetown 66-64)
1966 - Texas Western (def. Kentucky 72-65)
1964 - UCLA (def. Duke 98-83)
6 teams were the preseason #1 and went on to win the National Championship since tournament expansion in 1985:2
2009 - North Carolina (def. Michigan State 89-72)
2007 - Florida (def. Ohio State 84-75)
2004 - Connecticut (def. Georgia Tech 82-73)
1996 - Kentucky (def. Syracuse 76-67)
1992 - Duke (def. Michigan 71-51)
1990 - UNLV (def. Duke 103-73)
AP Poll Appearance Streaks
Consecutive Weeks in the Top 25:
231 - Kansas (2009-2021)
221 - UCLA (1967-1980)
200 - Duke (1997-2007)
172 - North Carolina (1991-2000)
171 - North Carolina (1973-1983)
167 - Duke (2008-2016)
166 - Marquette (1970-1980)
164 - Kentucky (1991-2000)
145 - Kansas (1991-1999)
143 - Gonzaga (2017-2024)
143 - Duke (1987-1995)
Active Streaks - Houston (85); Kansas (64); Tennessee (59)
Consecutive Weeks in the Top 10:
155 - UCLA (1967-1976)
122 - Duke (2008-2014)
91 - Kentucky (1994-1999)
84 - Gonzaga (2018-2023)
76 - Kansas (1995-1999)
75 - Duke (1962-1967)
69 - Duke (1991-1995)
68 - Maryland (1973-1976)
67 - Duke (2000-2003)
66 - Marquette (1970-1974)
Active Streaks - Houston (40); Purdue (37); Connecticut (22)
Final AP Poll
4 teams have gone wire-to-wire as the #1 team in the AP poll since tournament expansion in 1985:3
2021 - Gonzaga (National Runner-up)
2015 - Kentucky (Final Four)
1992 - Duke (National Champion)
1991 - UNLV (Final Four)
7 teams had a final ranking outside the Top 10 and won the National Championship:
2014 - Connecticut (#18)
2006 - Florida (#11)
2003 - Syracuse (#13)
1997 - Arizona (#15)
1988 - Kansas (NR)
1985 - Villanova (NR)
1983 - NC State (#16)
5 teams have finished #1 in the final AP poll and gone on to win the National Championship since tournament expansion in 1985:4
2024 - Connecticut (def. Purdue 75-60)
2012 - Kentucky (def. Kansas 67-59)
2001 - Duke (def. Arizona 82-72)
1995 - UCLA (def. Arkansas 89-78)
1992 - Duke (def. Michigan 71-51)
Most Final AP #1 Rankings:
10 - Kentucky (1949, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1966, 1970, 1978, 2003, 2012, 2015)
8 - Duke (1986, 1992, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2019)
8 - UCLA (1964, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1995)
6 - North Carolina (1957, 1982, 1984, 1994, 1998, 2008)
4 - Kansas (1997, 2010, 2016, 2020)
4 - Ohio State (1961, 1962, 2007, 2011)
In all, 207 different teams have been ranked, and the poll on January 26, 1981 featured a tie at #1, with Virginia and Oregon State sharing the top spot. The final poll of 2024 marked the first time ever that Duke, NC State, and North Carolina were all ranked in the final Top 10. The #1 and #2 teams have played 43 times, with 15 of those meetings coming in the NCAA Tournament.
Of course, consistently appearing in the AP poll is no guarantee of postseason success, and there is recency bias in the final rankings - i.e. loss or injury in the conference tournament can drop a team down in the poll (like Cincinnati in 2000).5 Winning the NCAA Tournament has always determined the National Champion, but I have found it valuable over the years to look at the final poll as a snapshot of the season prior to the madness of March. I’ve used this site for research quite a bit in the past, so it was fun to finally put some of it down in writing. If you’re a basketball nerd like me, take a look at your favorite team, choose your own search parameters, or view some other miscellaneous facts and figures. The Associated Press had some other good articles to celebrate the milestone anniversary (below), and it was cool to see the cumulative totals for 75 years worth of ballots.
Thanks for reading, Go Duke!
Additional Resources
College Poll Archive - Men’s Basketball
NCAA Tournament Championship Games
AP Poll 75th Anniversary Articles:
December 27, 2023 - “Driving Discussion”
January 4, 2024 - “HBCU Teams”
January 5, 2024 - “One and Done”
January 8, 2024 - “No. 1”
January 10, 2024 - “Best Teams?”
January 10, 2024 - “All-Time Top 25”
April 9, 2024 - “Post-NCAA Final Poll”
Since the AP rankings shrunk to just ten teams for most of the 1960s, I decided use the Top 10 for my decade by decade research (1949 rankings are included in the 1950s for the purposes of this article). Use College Poll Archive to view total appearances by decade.
8 other teams were preseason #1 and won the National Championship: 1982 - North Carolina (def. Georgetown 63-62); 1976 - Indiana (def. Michigan 86-68); 1973 - UCLA (def. Memphis State 87-66); 1972 - UCLA (def. Florida State 81-76); 1971 - UCLA (def. Villanova 68-62); 1969 - UCLA (def. Purdue 92-72); 1968 - UCLA (def. North Carolina 78-55); 1967 - UCLA (def. Dayton 79-64).
10 other teams went wire-to-wire at #1: 1976 - Indiana (National Champion); 1973 - UCLA (National Champion); 1972 - UCLA (National Champion); 1969 - UCLA (National Champion); 1967 - UCLA (National Champion); 1963 - Cincinnati (National Runner-up); 1962 - Ohio State (National Runner-up); 1961 - Ohio State (National Runner-up); 1960 - Cincinnati (Final Four); 1956 - San Francisco (National Champion).
17 other teams finished #1 in the final poll and won the National Championship: 1982 - North Carolina (def. Georgetown 63-62); 1978 - Kentucky (def. Duke 94-88); 1976 - Indiana (def. Michigan 86-68); 1975 - UCLA (def. Kentucky 92-85); 1974 - NC State (def. Marquette 76-64); 1973 - UCLA (def. Memphis State 87-66); 1972 - UCLA (def. Florida State 81-76); 1971 - UCLA (def. Villanova 68-62); 1969 - UCLA (def. Purdue 92-72); 1967 - UCLA (def. Dayton 79-64); 1964 - UCLA (def. Duke 98-83); 1957 - North Carolina (def. Kansas 54-53); 1956 - San Francisco (def. Iowa 83-71); 1955 - San Francisco (def. LaSalle 77-63); 1953 - Indiana (def. Kansas 69-68); 1951 - Kentucky (def. Kansas State 68-58); 1949 - Kentucky (def. Oklahoma State 46-36).
Cincinnati (28-2) was the #1 team in the country before Kenyon Martin suffered a season-ending broken leg just three minutes into the opening game of their conference tournament. Cincinnati lost that game, dropped from #1 to #7 in the final AP poll, and to a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament before losing in the Round of 32. In this case, for example, the #7 final ranking was not a good snapshot of Cincinnati’s season prior to the tournament.