By Jim Meehan

The Spokesman-Review

The spotlight is on Gonzaga, even as the Zags await arguably the biggest home game in program history against North Carolina on Wednesday.

The Zags (11-1), on the strength of another road win over a ranked Pac-12 Conference and the general chaos that has been unfolding in college basketball since the start of the season, climbed to No. 2 in the AP poll released Monday.

Gonzaga had a shot at the top spot, but that went to Kansas, which became the fifth different team to reach No. 1, joining Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and Louisville. It’s the first time in AP poll history with five different No. 1s before New Year’s Day. The AP poll debuted in Jan. 1949.

Kansas (9-1) snagged 47 of 65 first-place votes and 1,607 points from the media panel. The Zags received 15 first-place votes and 1,552 points.

The Jayhawks face two more challenges before entering Big 12 play. Kansas takes on No. 18 Villanova in Philadelphia on Saturday before visiting Stanford on Dec. 29. Stanford received three votes in the poll.

Louisville, last week’s No. 1, slipped to No. 3. Duke, Ohio State, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia and Baylor rounded out the top 10. The Zags defeated Oregon in overtime in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.

North Carolina’s run of 106 consecutive weeks in the poll came to an end. The Tar Heels (6-4) fell out of the rankings for the first time since Feb. 2014. They were first in the receiving votes category (26th overall) with 41 points. Saint Mary’s received 13 points and BYU picked up one vote.