Bulldogs Jump In USA Today/ESPN Poll
12/9/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2003
MCLEAN, Va. (SportsTicker) - Now Florida will try its hand at being the No. 1 team in the country.
Florida became the third team this season to take over the top spot in the latest USA TODAY/ESPN coaches' poll, which was released Monday. (Related item: USA TODAY/ESPN coaches' poll)
Off to a 5-0 start, Florida received 20 first-place votes and 745 points to rise one spot in the polls.
Less than a month into the season, the Gators already are third team to hold the top ranking. Connecticut opened the season atop the polls before Kansas assumed the top spot.
Kansas (3-1) dropped from first to seventh following Saturday's 54-48 loss to Stanford, which moved up from 17th to 13th.
Kentucky (4-0) received two first-place votes and 656 points, moving from third to second. Connecticut (6-1) picked up four first-place votes and is third, followed by Missouri (3-0) and Duke (5-1).
Unbeaten Texas (4-0) is sixth followed by Kansas, North Carolina (5-0), Arizona (2-1) and Georgia Tech (7-0). Texas and Georgia Tech each picked up two first-place votes, and North Carolina received one.
Despite a win over Michigan State, Oklahoma (5-0) moved up just one spot to No. 11 and is followed by Wake Forest (5-0), Stanford (4-0), Illinois (4-1) and St. Joseph's (5-0). Purdue (6-0), Cincinnati (4-0), Gonzaga (6-1), Wisconsin (4-1) and Michigan State (3-3) are ranked 16th through 20th.
Gonzaga jumped from 24th to 18th after winning three road games last week at Washington, and against Maryland and George Washington in winning the BB&T Classic at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The Bulldogs will face No. 3 Missouri on Saturday at the Battle in Seattle to be played at KeyArena.
Marquette (5-0) and Syracuse (2-1) are tied for 21st, Pittsburgh is 23rd and Dayton (6-0) and Louisville (2-1) round out the poll.
Dayton and Louisiville are in the poll for the first time this season.
Notre Dame (2-2) and Maryland (4-2) fell out of the rankings.
USA Today/ESPN Top 25
The top 25 teams in the USA Today-ESPN men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 7, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Record Pts Pvs 1. Florida (20) 5-0 745 2 2. Kentucky (2) 4-0 656 3 3. Connecticut (4) 6-1 641 4 4. Missouri 3-0 599 5 5. Duke 5-1 591 6t 6. Texas (2) 4-0 584 9 7. Kansas 3-1 546 1 8. North Carolina (1) 5-0 544 10 9. Arizona 2-1 511 810. Georgia Tech (2) 7-0 488 1511. Oklahoma 5-0 451 1212. Wake Forest 5-0 410 1613. Stanford 4-0 385 1714. Illinois 4-1 380 1115. Saint Joseph's 5-0 375 1416. Purdue (1) 6-0 314 2117. Cincinnati 4-0 276 1918. Gonzaga 6-1 243 2419. Wisconsin 4-1 239 1320. Michigan State 3-3 208 6t21. Marquette 6-0 197 2321. Syracuse 2-1 197 1823. Pittsburgh 6-0 192 2224. Dayton 6-0 49 -25. Louisville 2-1 44 -Others receiving votes: Notre Dame 35, Oklahoma State 27, Iowa 21, Maryland 20, Texas Tech 15, Creighton 14, Arizona State 10, Florida State 10, South Carolina 10, Vanderbilt 9, Oregon 6, Brigham Young 5, Charlotte 5, Boston College 4, North Carolina State 4, Southern Illinois 4, Colorado 3, Auburn 2, Murray State 2, Utah 2, Manhattan 1, Wichita State 1.
