Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Duke Still Unanimous No. 1 in AP Poll

Duke was able to easily handle Bradley and Saint Louis without star freshman guard Kyrie Irving, and the Blue Devils remained a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll for a third straight week.

The Blue Devils (10-0), who received all 65 first-place votes from the national media panel on Monday, have been No. 1 all season - and except for Irving's toe injury it's been smooth sailing. Irving, whose right foot has been placed in a hard cast, is out indefinitely.

Ohio State (8-0) remained second and then came the changes in the top 10.

Kansas moved up one place to third and Connecticut jumped two spots to fourth. Syracuse moved from eighth to fifth and Kansas State dropped one place to sixth.

Tennessee jumped from 11th to No. 7 after its 83-76 win over Pittsburgh, a loss that dropped the Panthers five spots to eighth. The Volunteers are at their highest ranking since finishing fifth in the final poll in 2007-08.

Baylor moved up one place to ninth, the highest ranking in school history, and Villanova was No. 10.

Texas A&M (9-1) was the only newcomer to the poll, moving in at No. 25 after its 63-62 victory overWashington (6-3), which fell out from 21st.

San Diego State continued to improve on its first-ever ranking, jumping from 14th to 11th. The Aztecs were followed by Illinois, Missouri, Michigan State, Georgetown, BYU, Kentucky, Memphis,Purdue and Louisville.

The last five ranked teams were Minnesota, UNLV and Texas, which tied for 22nd, Notre Dameand Texas A&M.

Seven ranked teams, including three in the top 10, lost last week, but three of those schools - Pittsburgh, Michigan State and Memphis - lost to a ranked opponent.

Texas A&M was ranked for all but two weeks last season and the Aggies moved into the poll following their high-profile home win over Washington. Their only loss this season was 67-65 toBoston College in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic.

The loss was the third of the season for the Huskies, who lost to Kentucky and Michigan State in the Maui Invitational. Washington, which entered the game against Texas A&M leading the nation in scoring at 96.0 points per game, was 18th in the preseason poll and reached as high as 13th this season.

The week's biggest drop was Michigan State's fall from seventh to No. 14. The Spartans (7-3), who were No. 2 in the preseason poll, lost to Syracuse in the Jimmy V Classic last week and then escaped with a 77-76 victory over Oakland, Mich.

The Big East still has the most ranked teams with seven and it still has four in the top 10 as Villanova replaced Georgetown to join Connecticut, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. The Big 12 has six ranked teams with Texas A&M moving in and three in the top 10: Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor.

There are no games between ranked teams this week, when most schools are having final exams, but there are three games between teams that have been ranked at some point this season. On Saturday, Texas faces North Carolina, Kansas State meets Florida and Gonzaga plays Baylor. 



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