In most years, the final polls of the college basketball season are a largely unimportant side note to the end of the season.
Yes, the team that wins the NCAA Tournament is going to finish No. 1, and the further you advance through the tournament, the closer to the top you’ll be.
But the ending of the 2019-2020 season has been very unlike most years, so the polls are more interesting than normal.
With the NCAA Tournament canceled and the season suddenly over, it feels much less like a definitive judgement and more of a snapshot in time of the end of a very unusual season.
Kansas ends the year ranked atop the polls, but won’t get a chance to cut down any nets.
After that, things get a little wild. Half of the top-10 features teams outside of the Power 5 conferences, including No. 2 Gonzaga, No. 3 Dayton, No. 6 San Diego State, No. 7 Creighton, and No. 10 Villanova.
It’ll also be a great jumping-off point for “what if?” conversations about this unpredictable college basketball season for generations to come.
Gonzaga misses out on a chance to win its first-ever national title after finishing as the runner-up in 2017.
Dayton misses out on its best chance at a national championship since falling in the final to John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty in 1967.
Florida State won’t ever know whether this could have been their first national title team. They only have one Final Four in program history, a runner-up finish in 1972.
Baylor hasn’t made a Final Four since 1950, and never got closer to a title than when they finished as a runner-up in 1948.
San Diego State has never advanced past the Sweet 16, and they only did that twice (2011, 2014). This was the best team they’ve ever had.
Creighton hasn’t made it to the Sweet 16 since 1974, and only made the Elite Eight once, in 1941.
That’s six of the top seven teams in the final poll, all of whom will miss out on a chance to make program history.
Six Big Ten teams finished among the top-25, and another four were among those also receiving votes.
Ohio State ends the season ranked as the No. 19 team in the nation, behind Michigan State (No. 9), Maryland (No. 12), and Wisconsin (No. 17), and ahead of Illinois (No. 21), and Iowa (No. 25).
Michigan, Penn State, Rutgers, and Purdue narrowly missed out on finishing the season ranked.
OSU finished the year with wins over No. 8 Kentucky, No. 10 Villanova, No. 12 Maryland, and No. 21 Illinois.
You can find the complete final 2019-2020 AP Poll below.
1 Kansas (28-3)
2 Gonzaga (31-2)
3 Dayton (29-2)
4 Florida St. (26-5)
5 Baylor (26-4)
6 SDSU (30-2)
7 Creighton (24-7)
8 Kentucky (25-6)
9 Michigan St (22-9)
10 Villanova (24-7)
11 Duke (25-6)
12 Maryland (24-7)
13 Oregon (24-7)
14 Louisville (24-7)
15 Seton Hall (21-9)
16 Virginia (23-7)
17 Wisconsin (21-10)
18 BYU (24-8)
19 Ohio St (21-10)
20 Auburn (25-6)
21 Illinois (21-10)
22 Houston (23-8)
23 Butler (22-9)
24 WVU (21-10)
25 Iowa (20-11)