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COACHES POLL: Oklahoma moves to No. 1 in the country

Buddy Hield, Isaac Fleming

Oklahoma guard Buddy Hield (AP Photo/Eugene Tanner)

AP

Oklahoma jumped up into first place in the latest Coaches Poll, vaulting the Denzel Valentine-less Michigan State Spartans and remaining slotted above Kansas, who received 11 first place votes of their own.

Oklahoma and Kansas play each other tonight. Which will be awesome.

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Anyway, there are a couple of weird rankings here. Providence beat Arizona in the Wooden Legacy earlier this year but they’re ranked three spots behind the Wildcats? Huh. Good to know.

And what about Butler, who beat Purdue in Bankers Life Fieldhouse yet is ranked one spot behind the Boilermakers by the coaches. That’s ... odd.

[PLAYER OF THE WEEK | TEAM OF THE WEEK]

The most egregious? Villanova beat Xavier by 31 points on THURSDAY, but the coaches have Xavier ranked 12th and Villanova ranked 13th. I know Xavier lost Edmond Sumner and I know they beat Butler and I know they have one less loss so please don’t try and get smart and point that out to me.

I get it.

In a vacuum, I think a healthy Xavier might be a better team that Villanova.

But we’re not in a vacuum. We’re in a world where, four days ago, Xavier lost to Villanova by 31 points.

Good thing these polls don’t matter at all.

Anyway, here is the Coaches Poll. The NBCSports.com Top 25 -- way more accurate and reliable, I might add -- can be found here.

1. Oklahoma (12-0, 20 first-place votes)
2. Kansas (12-1, 11)
3. Maryland (13-1)
4. Virginia (12-1)
5. Michigan State (14-1, 1)
6. Arizona (13-1)
7. North Carolina (13-2)
8. Kentucky (11-2)
9. Providence (14-1)
10. Duke (12-2)
11. Miami (12-1)
12. Xavier (13-1)
13. Villanova (12-2)
14. Iowa State (11-2)
15. West Virginia (12-1)
16. Louisville (12-2)
17. Texas A&M (11-2)
18. Purdue (13-2)
19. Butler (11-3)
20. South Carolina (13-0)
21. Pitt (12-1)
22. Gonzaga (12-3)
23. Iowa (11-3)
24. UConn (10-3)
25. Baylor (10-3)