Men's Basketball

Feb. 14, 2005

NEW YORK (Ticker) - Continuing its best start in school history, Illinois received all 72 first-place votes for the third straight week in the Associated Press college basketball poll released Monday.

Illinois (25-0) extended its stay at the top of the poll to 11 consecutive weeks after wins over Michigan and Wisconsin, which remained at No. 20.

Indiana, the last team to record an undefeated season in Division I, owns the all-time Big Ten mark of 32 straight wins in 1975-76.

North Carolina (20-3), which was No. 2 last week, lost at Duke on Wednesday but bounced back with a win at Connecticut on Sunday and slipped to No. 4.

Kansas (20-1) moved up to No. 2 after wins over Kansas State and Colorado. The Jayhawks received 1,710 points, 90 behind Illinois.

Kentucky (19-2) posted home wins over Florida and Georgia last week and rose two spots to No. 3. Wake Forest (21-3) moved up one place to No. 5.

Boston College (20-1) lost its first game of the season last Tuesday at Notre Dame after the first 20-0 start in Big East history and slipped two places to No. 6.

Duke (18-3) remained seventh after beating North Carolina on Wednesday and losing in overtime at Maryland on Saturday.

Oklahoma State (19-3), Syracuse (22-3) and Arizona (21-4) round out the top 10.

Michigan State (17-4) is 11th followed by Louisville (21-4), Gonzaga (19-4), Utah (21-3), Washington (20-4), Alabama (19-4), Pittsburgh (17-4), Connecticut (15-6), Pacific (20-2) and Wisconsin (16-6).

The Bulldogs picked up their first West Coast Conference road sweep of the season last week at Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Gonzaga can clinch no worse than a tie for the WCC regular-season crown with home wins Thursday against San Diego and Saturday against San Francisco.

Oklahoma (17-6) slipped five spots to 21st after an overtime loss to Missouri on Saturday.

Maryland (15-7) and Charlotte (17-4) moved into the poll at 22 and 23, respectively.

Cincinnati (18-6) and Villanova (14-6) complete the top 25.

Texas (16-7) and Texas Tech (15-6) dropped out of the poll.

The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, with
number of first-place votes and record in parentheses, total
points and previous ranking:
(Records through February 13, 2005)
    TEAM                                   PTS   PVS
    ----                                   ---   ---
 1. ILLINOIS (72) (25-0)                 1,800     1
 2. KANSAS (20-1)                        1,710     3
 3. KENTUCKY (19-2)                      1,592     5
 4. NORTH CAROLINA (20-3)                1,576     2
 5. WAKE FOREST (21-3)                   1,553     6
 6. BOSTON COLLEGE (20-1)                1,365     4
 7. DUKE (18-3)                          1,348     7
 8. OKLAHOMA ST (19-3)                   1,329    10
 9. SYRACUSE (22-3)                      1,219     8
10. ARIZONA (21-4)                       1,140    12
11. MICHIGAN ST (17-4)                   1,008    13
12. LOUISVILLE (21-4)                      965     9
13. GONZAGA (19-4)                         889    14
14. UTAH (21-3)                            827    15
15. WASHINGTON (20-4)                      811    11
16. ALABAMA (19-4)                         737    17
17. PITTSBURGH (17-4)                      717    18
18. CONNECTICUT (15-6)                     602    19
19. PACIFIC (20-2)                         360    24
20. WISCONSIN (16-6)                       342    20
21. OKLAHOMA (17-6)                        263    16
22. MARYLAND (15-7)                        231    NR
23. CHARLOTTE (17-4)                       225    NR
24. CINCINNATI (18-6)                      130    21
25. VILLANOVA (14-6)                       118    22
Dropped Out: No. 23 Texas, No. 25 Texas Tech
Others Receiving Votes: FLORIDA 105, GEORGETOWN 48, TEXAS
46, TEXAS TECH 46, DEPAUL 45, OLD DOMINION 44, MISSISSIPPI
ST 33, NEVADA 29, NOTRE DAME 28, GEORGIA TECH 27, SOUTHERN
ILL 21, WICHITA ST 21, VERMONT 19, MEMPHIS 7, WISC MILWAUKEE
7, MIAMI FLA 6, GEO WASHINGTON 5, ST MARYS CA 2, TEXAS A&M
2, HOLY CROSS 1, MINNESOTA 1.