Jan. 13, 2002
McLEAN, Va. (Ticker) -
Duke remained No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY/ESPN coaches' poll, but its grip on the top ranking is slipping.
Gonzaga, meanwhile, continued its climb up the poll with a four-spot jump to 14th this week. The Bulldogs (15-2) opened West Coast Conference play with home victories over Santa Clara and San Diego to run their winning streak to 12.
The Blue Devils (13-1) had been the unanimous No. 1 choice for most of the season but garnered only 22 of 31 first-place votes and 762 points, just 15 more than Florida (14-1).
Duke retained the top ranking last week because it suffered its first loss of the season at Florida State on Jan. 6, just hours after the poll was released. The Blue Devils bounced back Thursday with a 104-79 thrashing of Georgia Tech and are playing another nationally televised Sunday night contest at North Carolina State.
The Gators extended their winning streak to a school-record 13 games this week with road victories over Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Florida also has reeled off 10 consecutive Southeastern Conference wins, one short of the school mark. Maryland (13-2) climbed one spot to third following Atlantic Coast Conference wins over North Carolina State and Georgia Tech.
Saturday's 87-77 loss at UCLA dropped Kansas (13-2) one spot, while Oklahoma (13-1) jumped two and leapfrogged Oklahoma State (15-1) into fifth. The Cowboys remained sixth (15-1), despite ending Iowa State's 19-game Big 12 Conference home winning streak on Saturday.
Oregon, which is just one-half game behind first-place USC in the Pac-10, finally cracked the top 25. Michigan State (9-7), Mississippi State (14-3) and Pittsburgh (15-2) dropped out of the rankings.
USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Poll
Jan. 13, 2002
First-place votes in parentheses. Poll taken before Sunday night's games.
Rank School Record Points Last Week
1. Duke (22) 13-1 762 1
2. Florida (9) 14-1 747 2
3. Maryland 13-2 701 4
4. Kansas 13-2 646 3
5. Oklahoma 13-1 644 7
6. Oklahoma State 15-1 610 6
7. Syracuse 15-2 551 8
8. Cincinnati 15-1 531 12
9. Virginia 10-2 496 5
10. Illinois 13-4 455 10
11. UCLA 12-3 426 14
12. Kentucky 10-4 408 9
13. Wake Forest 13-3 355 19
14. Gonzaga 15-2 342 18
15. Iowa 13-5 315 13
16. Stanford 9-4 290 11
17. Alabama 14-3 239 15
18. Arizona 11-4 208 21
19. Missouri 12-4 183 17
20. Miami (Fla.) 15-2 164 20
21. Boston College 13-3 144 16
22. Oregon 12-4 114 NR
23. Georgia 14-2 87 NR
(tie) Southern California 13-2 87 NR
25. Butler 15-2 67 23
DROPPED OUT: No. 22 Michigan State (9-7), No. 24 Mississippi State (14-3), No. 25 Pittsburgh (15-2).
OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Pittsburgh 60, Ohio State 59, North Carolina State 55, Texas 46, Georgetown 33, Connecticut 27, Western Kentucky 24, Mississippi State 22, Hawaii 18, Saint Joseph's 16, Wyoming 15, Temple 14, Bowling Green 13, Michigan State 13, Utah State 12, Southern Illinois 9, Texas Tech 9, Marquette 8, Indiana 7, South Florida 6, Xavier 6, Arkansas 5, Notre Dame 5, Memphis 4, UC-Irvine 4, Ball State 3, Mississippi 3, Tulsa 3, Arizona State 2, Valparaiso 2.
The USA TODAY/ESPN Board of Coaches is made up of 31 Division I head coaches, by agreement with the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The 2001-02 voters: Dana Altman, Creighton, Eddie Biedenbach, North Carolina-Asheville, Jim Boeheim, Syracuse, Rickey Broussard, Nicholls State, Barry Collier, Nebraska, Dick Davey, Santa Clara, Fran Dunphy, Pennsylvania, Jessie Evans, Louisiana-Lafayette, Rob Evans, Arizona State, Patrick Flannery, Bucknell, Tom Green, Fairleigh Dickinson, Dan Hipsher, Akron, Bob Huggins, Cincinnati, Gene Keady, Purdue, Jim Kerwin, Western Illinois, Mack McCarthy, Virginia Commonwealth, Bobby McKillop, Davidson, Rick Majerus, Utah, Joe Mihalich, Niagara, Ron Mitchell, Coppin State, Dave Odom, South Carolina, Oliver Purnell, Dayton, Rick Samuels, Eastern Illinois, Joel Sobotka, Portland State, Kirk Speraw, Central Florida, Bob Thomason, Pacific, Perry Watson, Detroit Mercy, Davey Whitney, Alcorn State, Gary Williams, Maryland, Willis Wilson, Rice, Dennis Wolff, Boston University.
