Duke Stays No. 1 in AP Poll; UNC at 25th

Minnesota was impressive in winning an early season tournament, and Texas looked good in finishing second in another of the November classics.

Both moved into The Associated Press' Top 25 on Monday while North Carolina hung on at 25th.

Duke (3-0) was again No. 1 in the poll, receiving 58 first-place votes from the national media panel for the second straight week. Michigan State (2-0) remained second although the Spartans lost one first-place vote, getting six.

Ohio State (3-0) and Kansas State (3-0), which got the other No. 1 nod, were third and fourth after switching places from last week. The Buckeyes' jump came after their impressive 93-75 victory at then-No. 9 Florida.

Pittsburgh, Kansas, Villanova, Kentucky, Syracuse and Purdue rounded out the Top 10.

Missouri moved up four spots to 11th and was followed by Baylor, Washington, Memphis, Minnesota, Florida and Georgetown, which tied for 16th, San Diego State, Illinois and Texas.

Temple, Gonzaga, BYU, Tennessee and North Carolina were the last five ranked teams.

Minnesota (5-0) beat Western Kentucky, North Carolina and West Virginia to win the Puerto Rico Tip-off. The Gophers are back in the rankings for the first time since last season's second poll.

Texas (3-1) moved in after beating then-No. 13 Illinois in overtime and giving No. 5 Pittsburgh quite a challenge in the finals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.

The Longhorns were No. 1 for two weeks last season -- the first trip to the top in school history -- but they were out of the rankings six weeks later. They lost to Wake Forest in the first round of the NCAA tournament as a No. 8 seed.

Butler, which was 16th last week, fell out after losing at Louisville, while Virginia Tech, which lost at Kansas State, dropped out from 22nd.

North Carolina (2-2), which dropped out the rankings last Jan. 25 and didn't make the NCAA tournament in a disappointing 20-17 season, were eighth in the preseason poll and the first regular-season rankings. The Tar Heels dropped to 25th after losing two of three games in Puerto Rico. They lost 72-67 to Minnesota in the semifinals and 72-65 to Vanderbilt in the third-place game.

The biggest jump of the week was San Diego State's move from 25th to No. 18. The Aztecs (4-0), who are ranked for the first time in school history, beat Gonzaga 79-76, Wisconsin-Green Bay and IUPUI last week.

The home loss to San Diego State caused the Zags (2-1) to drop from 11th to No. 22.

There is one game between ranked teams for sure this week: Gonzaga-Kansas State on Monday night in the semifinals of the CBE Classic.

There could be others this week if things fall right in three tournaments.

The winner of the Gonzaga-Kansas State game would meet Duke on Tuesday if the Blue Devils beat Marquette on Monday. The EA Sports Maui Invitational has Michigan State and Washington on the same side of the eight-team bracket and Kentucky could await that winner in the championship game. The championship game of the NIT Season Tip-Off could have Villanova facing Tennessee if both win or lose in the semifinals.