Dec. 13, 2004
BRISTOL, Connecticut (Ticker) -- For the first time in school history, Illinois's men's basketball team has held onto the top ranking for more than a week.
The Illini (9-0) retained its No. 1 ranking in the latest USA Today/ESPN Top 25 coaches' poll released Monday.
The two previous occasions the Illini had been the top-ranked team in the nation, in 1952 and 1989, it lost the following week and lost its ranking.
Illinois received 21 first-place votes - three more than last week - and 762 points.
Gonzaga (7-1) is the first team listed in the others receiving votes category with 49 points.
Kansas (6-0) and Georgia Tech (6-0) remained second and third, respectively. The Jayhawks received six first-place votes - four fewer than last week - and 746 points, while the Yellow Jackets earned two first-place votes and 709 points.
Oklahoma State (7-0), which beat Syracuse last Tuesday, moved up one spot to fourth and earned the two remaining first-place votes. The Orange (8-1) fell four spots to eighth.
Wake Forest (6-1) moved up two spots to fifth and is followed by Atlantic Coast Conference rivals North Carolina (7-1) and Duke (6-0), while another ACC squad, North Carolina State (7-0), is ninth.
Pittsburgh (7-0) is 10th, followed by Kentucky (6-1), Texas (6-1), Connecticut (4-1), Louisville (5-1), Alabama (8-1), Arizona (6-2), Cincinnati (6-0), Michigan State (5-2) and Maryland (5-2).
The Huskies, who were ranked sixth last week, dropped seven spots after a loss at Massachusetts last Thursday.
Washington (7-1) is 20th, while Iowa (8-1), George Washington (6-1), Virginia (7-1), Mississippi State (7-2) and previously unranked Marquette (9-0) complete the poll.
Wisconsin, ranked 22nd last week, fell out of the poll.
The USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 college basketballcoaches' poll, with number of first-place votes and recordin parentheses, total points and previous ranking:(Records through December 12, 2004) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. ILLINOIS (21) (9-0) 762 1 2. KANSAS (6) (6-0) 746 2 3. GEORGIA TECH (2) (6-0) 709 3 4. OKLAHOMA ST (2) (7-0) 677 5 5. WAKE FOREST (6-1) 616 7 6. NORTH CAROLINA (7-1) 605 8 7. DUKE (6-0) 599 9 8. SYRACUSE (8-1) 509 4 9. NO CAROLINA ST (7-0) 486 1010. PITTSBURGH (7-0) 479 1211. KENTUCKY (6-1) 451 1112. TEXAS (6-1) 410 1313. CONNECTICUT (4-1) 407 614. LOUISVILLE (5-1) 338 1415. ALABAMA (8-1) 290 1816. ARIZONA (6-2) 286 1517. CINCINNATI (6-0) 263 2018. MICHIGAN ST (5-2) 220 1619. MARYLAND (5-2) 212 1720. WASHINGTON (7-1) 191 2121. IOWA (8-1) 170 2422. GEO WASHINGTON (6-1) 137 2523. VIRGINIA (7-1) 106 1924. MISSISSIPPI ST (7-2) 98 2325. MARQUETTE (9-0) 94 NRDropped Out: No. 22 WisconsinOthers Receiving Votes: GONZAGA 49, OKLAHOMA 48, WISCONSIN30, BOSTON COLLEGE 23, UAB 14, CREIGHTON 10, SOUTHERN ILL 6,MICHIGAN 5, NEW MEXICO 5, NOTRE DAME 5, WEST VIRGINIA 4,FLORIDA 3, OLD DOMINION 3, PACIFIC 3, WICHITA ST 3, IOWA ST1, LSU 1, TX A&M CORP CHR 1.
