Men's Basketball

Feb. 21, 2005

BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) - Kansas and Syracuse both paid the price for rough weeks when the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll was released Monday.

Two of the most storied college basketball programs of the last 20 years, both schools dropped two games last week and were punished in the polling of 31 Division I coaches.

While Illinois (27-0) remained the clear-cut No. 1 - gaining all 31 first-place votes and 775 points, Kansas (20-3) fell five spots to No. 7. The Jayhawks lost a pair of Big 12 Conference contests by a total of three points.

Syracuse (22-5) dropped from ninth to 15th following a week in which it lost to ranked Big East Conference rivals Pittsburgh and Boston College.

Kentucky (20-3), which lost to South Carolina, dropped from third to fifth.

North Carolina (22-3) and Boston College (22-1) benefited from the unrest, moving into second and third, respectively.

Oklahoma State (20-3) climbed from seventh to fourth.

After Kentucky, Wake Forest (22-4) is sixth and Arizona (23-4) is eighth. Michigan State (19-4) and Duke (19-4) complete the top 10.

Louisville (23-4), Utah (23-3), Washington (21-4) and Alabama (21-4) round out the top 14. Gonzaga (21-4) follows Syracuse in 16th for the second straight week with Pittsburgh (18-5) 17th and Pacific (22-2), defending national champion Connecticut (17-6) and Wisconsin (17-6) polishing off the top 20.

Gonzaga clinched no worse than a tie for the West Coast Conference regular-season title with two wins last week. The Bulldogs are assured of being the top seed in the upcoming WCC Tournament.

Charlotte (19-4) is 21st, followed by Cincinnati (20-6) and Olahoma (19-6).

Villanova (17-6) entered the poll at No. 24, followed by Texas Tech (16-7), which knocked off Kansas on February 14.

Dropping out of the poll was No. 24 Florida, which lost to Louisiana State on Saturday.

The USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 college basketball
coaches' poll, with number of first-place votes and record
in parentheses, total points and previous ranking:
(Records through February 20, 2005)
    TEAM                                   PTS   PVS
    ----                                   ---   ---
 1. ILLINOIS (31) (27-0)                   775     1
 2. NORTH CAROLINA (22-3)                  736     4
 3. BOSTON COLLEGE (22-1)                  699     6
 4. OKLAHOMA ST (20-3)                     669     7
 5. KENTUCKY (20-3)                        627     3
 6. WAKE FOREST (22-4)                     591     5
 7. KANSAS (20-3)                          557     2
 8. ARIZONA (23-4)                         551    11
 9. MICHIGAN ST (19-4)                     548    10
10. DUKE (19-4)                            546     8
11. LOUISVILLE (23-4)                      456    12
12. UTAH (23-3)                            406    13
13. WASHINGTON (21-4)                      397    13
14. ALABAMA (21-4)                         348    17
15. SYRACUSE (22-5)                        346     9
16. GONZAGA (21-4)                         339    16
17. PITTSBURGH (18-5)                      247    15
18. PACIFIC (22-2)                         245    19
19. CONNECTICUT (17-6)                     222    18
20. WISCONSIN (17-6)                       194    20
21. CHARLOTTE (19-4)                       137    23
22. CINCINNATI (20-6)                      124    21
23. OKLAHOMA (19-6)                        116    22
24. VILLANOVA (17-6)                        48    NR
25. TEXAS TECH (16-7)                       23    25
Dropped Out: No. 24 Florida
Others Receiving Votes: MARYLAND 22, SOUTHERN ILL 21, TEXAS
13, FLORIDA 12, OLD DOMINION 11, NEVADA 10, GEO WASHINGTON
8, IOWA ST 6, DEPAUL 4, GEORGIA TECH 4, HOLY CROSS 3, NO
CAROLINA ST 3, NOTRE DAME 3, WISC MILWAUKEE 3, IOWA 2, UL
LAFAYETTE 1, LSU 1, ST MARYS CA 1.