LAWRENCE, Kan. — Villanova coach Jay Wright admitted after falling from the top spot in The Associated Press college basketball poll that he would rather his team was ranked No. 1 than any other spot.

Well, the Wildcats are back on top.

They leapfrogged Kansas after Baylor lost in its first-ever game as the No. 1 team, returning to the pinnacle after one week away. The Wildcats received 28 first-place votes and 1,580 points from a 65-member national media panel, while the Jayhawks remained No. 2 despite getting more No. 1 votes.

“It was great to be No. 1. I’d much rather be No. 1 than three,” Wright said last week, after a stumble against then-No. 18 Butler dropped the reigning national champs a couple spots.

Villanova (17-1) bounced back to win three straight in easy fashion, including a blowout of then-No. 15 Xavier that prompted Musketeers coach Chris Mack to spend ample time lauding the Wildcats.

“Villanova is really good,” he said, “that’s no secret.”

The Jayhawks (16-1) have received similar praise from opposing coaches during a nation-leading 16-game winning streak. But that streak includes nip-and-tuck wins over Kansas State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State the past couple weeks. The Jayhawks got 32 first-place votes this week and 1,562 points.

“We’ve been pretty consistent for 16 straight games.,” Kansas coach Bill Self said over the weekend. “Certainly, I feel like we’ve done more than we had done two weeks ago or whatever. Who knows if that means anything. It’s really not a big deal. I’d much rather be 5-0 in the league than be No. 1. At least we have that.”