Defending Titlist Nova Stars as Latest Blue-Ribbon Program Ranked #1 by AP

Different shades of blue comprise uniform colors of the five blue-blood programs spending the most weeks ranked #1 in major-college history - UCLA, Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina and Kansas. Villanova, another school donning blue, was ranked atop the AP national poll post-Thanksgiving this year after spending most of February last season there until the Wildcats were declawed at Xavier prior to their NCAA tourney title run. Last year's #1 stint was the first time Nova ever was perched on such a regular-season pedestal although the Wildcats won the 1985 NCAA Tournament crown.

Maryland seemed to be the most likely heir apparent to succeed Villanova as #1 late in the last campaign until the Terrapins dropped a couple of contests against second-division Big Ten Conference opponents. Thus the Terps, NCAA titlist in 2002, remained on the list of seven schools capturing an NCAA crown at some point in their history but never earning a regular-season top ranking, joining Oregon (1939 champion), Wyoming (1943), Utah (1944), CCNY (1950), California (1959) and Texas-El Paso (1966).

This season, Baylor succeeded Nova as #1, albeit shortly, early in the new year. In doing so, the Bears became the sixth team - fourth in the last nine campaigns - to ascend to the top of the national polls after going unranked among the Preseason Top 20 since 1968-69. Wake Forest '09 and Gonzaga '13 each was ranked #21 in the PS before joining the following squads in this underestimated category:

NOTE: Eventual #1 teams UNLV '83 (T20th), Connecticut '95 (19th) and Stanford '04 (19th) barely made the PS Top 20 in their respective seasons.