Jan. 20, 2002

MacLean, Vir. (SportsTicker) - Duke is back where it has spent most of the season -- as the unanimous No. 1 team in the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, released Sunday night.

Just a week after the hold on the top spot was loosened, the Blue Devils (16-1) again garnered all 31 first-place votes and 775 points. Duke has followed its only loss of the season with four lopsided wins.

The Blue Devils pulled away Thursday for a 99-78 victory over No. 3 Maryland and crushed Wake Forest, 103-80, on Saturday.

Gonzaga, which fell at Pepperdine University Friday but routed Loyola Marymount University on Saturday, dropped four spots to 18th, a spot it held prior to moving to 14th last week. The Bulldogs are 16-3 overall, 3-1 in the West Coast Conference with home games Thursday against the University of San Francisco and Saturday against Saint Mary's College.

Kansas (15-2) took advantage of losses by Maryland and Florida (15-2) to move up two spots to second place with 739 points. The Jayhawks had an impressive week with victories over Oklahoma State and Oklahoma.

Maryland is third and Florida fourth after its school-record 14-game winning streak was snapped by Georgia on Saturday. Cincinnati (17-1), Oklahoma (14-2), Virginia (12-2), Illinois (14-4), Kentucky (12-4) and Syracuse (16-3) complete the top 10.

Oklahoma State (15-3) fell five spots to 11th, but Arizona climbed seven places after convincing Pac-10 Conference wins over Southern California and UCLA, which slipped two notches to 13th.

Alabama (16-3) and Stanford (11-4) are tied for 14th, one spot ahead of Wake Forest. A road win over Florida helped Georgia (15-3) climb six spots to 17th while a loss at Pepperdine knocked Gonzaga (16-3) down four spots to 18th.

Miami (17-2) and Missouri (14-4) round out the top 20.

The rest of the poll includes Oregon (14-4), USC (14-3), Ohio State (14-2), slumping Iowa (13-7) and Pittsburgh (16-3).

Ohio State made its top-25 debut this season while Pitt returned to the poll, replacing Boston College and Butler.

Rank  School            Record  Points  Last Week  1. Duke (31)             16-1     775       12. Kansas                15-2     739       43. Maryland              13-3     685       34. Florida               13-2     665       25. Cincinnati            17-1     648       86. Oklahoma              14-2     607       57. Virginia              12-2     537       98. Illinois              14-4     520      109. Kentucky              12-4     487      1210. Syracuse             16-3     472       711. Oklahoma State       15-3     456       612. Arizona              13-4     402      1813. UCLA                 13-4     383      1114. Alabama              16-3     321      1714. Stanford             11-4     321      1616. Wake Forest          13-5     270      1317. Georgia              15-3     238      23 (tie)18. Gonzaga              16-3     231      14 19. Miami (Fla.)         17-2     209      2020. Missouri             14-4     193      1921. Oregon               14-4     152      2222. Southern California  14-3     105      23 (tie)23. Ohio State           14-2     102      NR(tie) Iowa               13-7      95      1525. Pittsburgh           16-3      47      NR

DROPPED OUT: No. 21 Boston College (14-4), No. 25 Butler (16-3).

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES: Connecticut 46, North Carolina State 35, Boston College 33, Texas Tech 32, Texas 29, Western Kentucky 24, Hawaii 22, Butler 20, Saint Joseph's 16, Temple 16, Xavier 16, Marquette 15, Southern Illinois 15, Wyoming 15, Ball State 11, California 11, Georgetown 11, Indiana 9, Mississippi State 6, Utah State 6, Bowling Green 5, Michigan State 5, New Mexico 4, St. John's 4, Tulsa 3, Valparaiso 2, Arizona State 1, Memphis 1, Pepperdine 1, UC-Irvine 1.