I suspect four different schools -- Gonzaga, Kansas, UCLA and Villanova -- will receive first-place votes in Monday's Associated Press poll, and it's reasonable to go with any of those four at the top. But I still believe Jay Wright's Wildcats should be ranked No. 1 based on the strength of their resume.

Villanova is 17-1 with six top-50 KenPom wins.

The only other school under consideration for the No. 1 ranking that can match the Wildcats' wins is Kansas, which also has six top-50 KenPom victories. But Villanova's loss is a loss at Butler while KU's loss is a neutral-court loss to an Indiana team that's now 11-6. So I'm giving the edge to Villanova. But I can also acknowledge it's not clear cut because a counter argument in favor of KU can easily be made, and the way to make it is to point out that the Indiana game was played more than two months ago. And if you want to argue for UCLA, that's also easy considering the Bruins' lone loss is a last-second loss at Oregon. And if you want to argue for Gonzaga, that's also easy because all you have to do is point to the perfect record.

Bottom line, I like Villanova at No. 1.

But it's sensible to favor Gonzaga, Kansas or UCLA.

Now let me explain some things.

I went back and forth and back and forth with how to handle the schools I have ranked 10th through 18th because there's really not much difference between them, and they could almost be put in any order. I have Notre Dame 10th, which is noticeably higher than the reputable computers. But the Irish are 16-2 with five top-50 KenPom wins and zero sub-20 losses, and they just won consecutive games at Miami and Virginia Tech. That's a strong resume. So I rewarded them for it.

Meantime, Virginia and Louisville both jumping into the top 14 along with Notre Dame pushed Arizona, Florida and Oregon down three spots each, no fault of their own. So don't ask why those teams dropped without losing. They didn't drop. They got pushed down. And it's worth noting that while both Arizona and Oregon are 16-2, they each have just one top-50 KenPom win. The only other school I have ranked with just one top-50 KenPom win is Saint Mary's, and Saint Mary's is 24th.