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Virginia back in the top-20 in latest AP Poll

Hoos trending in the right direction heading into postseason play.

Virginia v Louisville Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

The Virginia Cavaliers climbed back up to No. 16 in the latest AP poll after closing out the regular season with a big road win over Louisville. The victory secured the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament for Virginia, setting up a Thursday game against the winner of No. 8 Syracuse vs. No. 9 NC State.

Virginia comes in just behind Florida State, which fell to No. 15 after their flat effort at Notre Dame led to a 10-point loss. Virginia Tech, which hasn’t played a game since a February 27 win over Wake Forest, stayed put at No. 22 to round out ACC teams in the rankings.

Gonzaga stayed No. 1 for the 17th straight week, and Baylor returned to No. 2 after a short stay at No. 3. Illinois took over the third spot, and Michigan fell to No. 4 after a loss to Michigan State. Fellow Big Ten team Iowa rounded out the top five, with three of the Big Ten’s five ranked teams falling in spots No. 3-5.

The Big 12 once again held onto the top spot with seven ranked teams. Only one team — Wisconsin — fell out of the rankings this week, and USC jumped in at No. 24.

We are in the final week of action as conference tournaments continue before we get Selection Sunday on March 14. This year’s tournament feels more wide open than those in recent memory as a bunch of teams have flirted with solid play this season.

Check out the full poll here:

AP Poll - Week 16

Rank School Conference Previous
Rank School Conference Previous
1 Gonzaga WCC 1
2 Baylor Big 12 3
3 Illinois Big Ten 4
4 Michigan Big Ten 2
5 Iowa Big Ten 9
6 Alabama SEC 8
7 Houston AAC 9
8 Arkansas SEC 12
9 Ohio State Big Ten 7
10 West Virginia Big 12 6
11 Kansas Big 12 13
12 Oklahoma State Big 12 17
13 Texas Big 12 15
14 Villanova Big East 10
15 Florida State ACC 11
16 Virginia ACC 21
17 Creighton Big East 14
18 Loyola Chicago Missouri Valley 20
19 San Diego State MWC 19
20 Texas Tech Big 12 18
20 Purdue Big Ten 23
22 Virginia Tech ACC 22
23 Colorado Pac-12 24
24 USC Pac-12 NR
25 Oklahoma Big 12 16
Others receiving votes: BYU 93, Oregon 67, Connecticut 53, Clemson 25, Wisconsin 24, Tennessee 14, Wichita State 13, St. Bonaventure 11, Winthrop 7, Virginia Commonwealth 4, LSU 2, San Diego 1, Michigan State 1, UC Santa Barbara 1