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