March 10, 2002

Duke, which won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title Sunday, was a near unanimous No. 1 in the final USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll.

Third last week, the defending national champions received 29 of 31 first-place votes and 773 points from a panel of Division I coaches.

The Blue Devils (29-3) are the top seed in the South Region and begin their quest for a second straight title Thursday against Winthrop in Greenville, South Carolina.

Kansas (29-3) dropped one spot to second after suffering a 64-55 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game. But the Jayhawks, who received one first-place vote, also earned a top seed in the Midwest Region and face Holy Cross in their first round contest in St. Louis.

Oklahoma (27-4) claimed the other first place vote and climbed one notch to third, but settled for a No. 2 seed in the West Region.

Maryland (26-4), which was upset by North Carolina State in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, dropped two slots to fourth. Despite the loss, the Terrapins garnered the top seed in the East and play in Washington D.C. on Friday against the winner of the play-in game between Alcorn State and Siena.

Conference USA champion Cincinnati (30-3) completes the top five and received the final No. 1 seed in the West Region. The Bearcats take on Boston University on Friday in Pittsburgh.

Gonzaga (29-3), which felt snubbed after only receiving a No. 6 seed, starts the second five, followed by Pittsburgh (27-5), Alabama (26-7), Arizona (22-9) and Marquette (26-6). Alabama and Arizona tied for eighth. Gonzaga remained sixth for the second straight week.

Connecticut (24-6), which captured its fifth Big East title Saturday, made the biggest gain of the week, jumping 11 spots to 13th.

Starting the second 10 is Oregon (23-8), followed by Big champion Ohio State (23-7), Connecticut, Florida (22-8) and Kentucky (20-9).

Illinois (24-8) and Southern California (22-9) tied for 16th, with Missisippi State (26-8), Xavier (25-5) and Western Kentucky (28-3) completing the top 20.

Mississippi State was unranked last week but entered the poll after beating Alabama, 61-58, in the Southeastern Conference championship game Sunday.

Completing the poll were Miami (24-7), Oklahoma State (23-8), Stanford (19-9), Hawaii (27-5) and North Carolina State (22-10). The Rainbow Warriors and Wolfpack also were not ranked last week.

Georgia, Indiana and California dropped out.

USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 Poll

First-place votes in parentheses.
Rank  School       Record  Points  Last Week  1. Duke (29)        29-3    773        32. Kansas (1)       29-3    727        13. Oklahoma (1)     27-4    710        44. Maryland         26-4    679        25. Cincinnati       30-3    674        56. Gonzaga          29-3    580        6 7. Pittsburgh       27-5    530        78. Alabama          26-7    498        88. Arizona          22-9    498       1410. Marquette       26-6    446       1011. Oregon          23-8    437        912. Ohio State      23-7    411       1713. Connecticut     24-6    376       2414. Florida         22-8    317       1215. Kentucky        20-9    267       1116. Illinois        24-8    260       1516. So. California  22-9    260       2018. Mississippi St. 26-7    245       NR19. Xavier          25-5    205       2320. West. Kentucky  28-3    204       2121. Miami (Fla.)    24-7    189       1622. Oklahoma State  23-8    181       1323. Stanford        19-9    105       1824. Hawaii          27-5    100       NR25. N.C. State      22-10    86       NR

DROPPED OUT: No. 19 Georgia, No. 22 Indiana. No. 25 California.

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES (with season record): Georgia (21-9) 80, Indiana (20-11) 68, California (22-8) 42, Kent State (27-5) 27, Texas Tech (23-8) 23, Wake Forest (20-12) 22, Southern Illinois (26-7) 12, Notre Dame (21-10) 10, Texas (20-11) 9, Tulsa (26-6) 6, Valparaiso (25-7) 5, Butler (25-5) 3, UCLA (19-11) 3, Creighton (22-8) 2, Wisconsin (18-12) 2, Hampton (26-6) 1, Mississippi (20-10) 1, San Diego State (21-11) 1.