Duke Is Unanimous No. 1 Again In AP Poll

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Bulldogs drop three spots to 16th

Jan 21, 2002

By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer

Once again, it's all Duke.

The Blue Devils received every first-place vote from the national media panel Monday to remain No. 1 in The AP men's college basketball poll.

Duke (16-1) had been a unanimous No. 1 for five consecutive weeks earlier in the season before losing to Florida State and falling to second.

The Blue Devils dropped down for only one week before going back on top. One week later, following impressive wins over Maryland and Wake Forest, the Blue Devils again got all 72 first-place votes.

Gonzaga dropped three spots to 16th after splitting a pair of West Coast Conference road games last weekend. The Bulldogs had their 12-game winning streak snapped at Pepperdine on Friday, but Gonzaga came back with a victory Saturday over Loyola Marymount.

Kansas (15-2), which was No. 1 the week Duke wasn't on top, moved from fourth to second following wins over Oklahoma State and Oklahoma last week. Maryland (14-3), which rebounded from the loss to Duke with a win over Clemson, stayed third.

Cincinnati (17-1), which holds the nation's longest winning streak at 17 games, entered the poll five weeks ago. The Bearcats have moved up every week and this was no exception as they went from seventh to No. 4, their highest ranking since being No. 1 in the next-to-last poll of the 1999-2000 season.

Florida (15-2), which lost to Georgia on Saturday, dropped from second to fifth and was followed in the Top Ten by Oklahoma, Virginia, Kentucky, Illinois and Arizona.

Oklahoma State, which lost to Texas Tech as well as Kansas last week, dropped from sixth to 11th and was followed in the Second Ten by Syracuse, UCLA, Alabama, Georgia, Gonzaga, Stanford, Missouri, Oregon and Ohio State.

The last five ranked teams were Wake Forest, Miami, Southern California, Texas and Connecticut.

Ohio State, Texas and Connecticut were all newcomers this week, replacing Iowa, Boston College and Indiana.

Ohio State (14-2) has won eight straight since losing consecutive games to Louisville and Pittsburgh. The Buckeyes, who are 5-0 in the Big Ten, were ranked for one week last season.

Texas (13-4) was ranked No. 23 in the preseason poll but lost its opener to Arizona. The Longhorns returned to the rankings on a six-game winning streak and are 4-0 in the Big 12.

Connecticut (12-3) is also unbeaten in conference play, winning its first five Big East games. The Huskies, whose only loss in their last seven games was to Oklahoma, were ranked for the first 12 polls last season before falling out for the rest of the year.

Iowa (13-7), which was ranked No. 9 just three weeks ago, dropped out from 17th after losses to Illinois and Northwestern last week made the Hawkeyes 1-4 in their last five games.

Boston College (14-4) fell out from 22nd. The Eagles' loss to St. John's last week was their third straight at home following a 25-game winning streak at Conte Forum.

BC gets a chance to improve its standing in its next game - at home against Duke.

Indiana (11-6) had moved back into the rankings at No. 25 last week after being out of the poll for four weeks. The Hoosiers lost to Ohio State in their only game last week.

Texas gives the Big 12 five ranked teams, matching the Pac-10 for most in the Top 25. Those two leagues along with the Atlantic Coast Conference (4), Southeastern Conference (4) and Big East (3) account for all but four of the teams in the current poll.

By The Associated Press

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Jan. 20, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Record Pts Pv 1. Duke (72) 16-1 1,800 1 2. Kansas 15-2 1,711 4 3. Maryland 14-3 1,578 3 4. Cincinnati 17-1 1,569 7 5. Florida 15-2 1,553 2 6. Oklahoma 14-2 1,428 5 7. Virginia 12-2 1,233 10 8. Kentucky 12-4 1,194 12 9. Illinois 14-4 1,184 11 10. Arizona 13-4 1,044 15 11. Oklahoma St. 15-3 950 6 12. Syracuse 16-3 949 8 13. UCLA 13-4 927 9 14. Alabama 16-3 820 16 15. Georgia 15-3 728 20 16. Gonzaga 16-3 658 13 17. Stanford 11-4 558 19 18. Missouri 14-4 483 21 19. Oregon 14-4 459 23 20. Ohio St. 14-2 453 - 21. Wake Forest 13-5 448 14 22. Miami 17-2 424 24 23. Southern Cal 14-3 405 18 24. Texas 13-4 198 - 25. Connecticut 12-3 159 -

Others receiving votes: Texas Tech 98, Boston College 75, Iowa 71, Pittsburgh 68, Indiana 46, Marquette 36, N.C. State 20, Mississippi 10, Memphis 9, Butler 8, Saint Joseph's 8, W. Kentucky 7, Wyoming 7, Pepperdine 5, Xavier 5, St. John's 4, California 3, Georgetown 2, Tulsa 2, Utah 2, S. Illinois 1.