DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — For the first time since 1938, a national champion in college basketball won't be crowned at the end of the NCAA tournament.
The Kansas Jayhawks claimed the No. 1 ranking in the final USA Today top 25 coaches poll Monday, securing the top spot they held heading into conference championship week.
Of course, the NCAA tournament was canceled last week because of coronavirus concerns. It is the first time the national tournament won't be played since it began in 1939.
As such, several teams were left hanging, with potential No. 1 seeds on the line.
All 32 participating head coaches at least somewhat answered the question of which team was the best in the land when the season came to an abrupt end, casting their final votes.
Kansas (28-3) received 29 of 32 first-place votes, while Gonzaga (31-2) got the other three.
Dayton (29-2) held onto the No. 3 spot after going 18-0 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
Despite not playing a game since the penultimate rankings were released, Florida State dropped a spot to finish No. 5 overall. The Seminoles (26-5) won the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title and were crowned official champions after the ACC tournament was scrapped before Florida State played its first game.
Switching spots with Florida State was Baylor. The Bears (26-4), who began the season 24-1, finished second in the Big 12 Conference behind Kansas after losing three of their last five games.
Rounding out the top 10 were No. 6 San Diego State (30-2), No. 7 Kentucky (25-6), No. 8 Duke (25-6), Villanova (24-7) and Creighton (24-7), both tied for No. 9, and No. 10 Maryland (24-7).
Defending national champion Virginia (23-7), which finished second in the ACC, moved up one spot to No. 17.
