Gonzaga On Move Again In AP Poll
12/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2004
NEW YORK (Ticker) - One week after climbing nine spots, Gonzaga was the highest-ranked team to advance in the latest Associated Press college basketball poll, released Monday.
The Bulldogs (9-1), who were ranked 22nd in this poll two weeks ago, ascended one spot to No. 12 on the strength of an 83-70 win over Eastern Washington on Tuesday. They swapped spots with Washington (10-1), who set a school record for most points in a two-game span (224) in routs over Sacred Heart and Houston during the week.
Led by top-ranked Illinois, the top 11 teams remained unchanged.
The Fighting Illini (11-0) received 55 first-place votes and widened their lead to 80 points over No. 2 Kansas (8-0), which received 13 first-place votes and 1,699 points.
No. 3 Oklahoma State (9-0), which trails the Jayhawks by 21 points, claimed the final four first-place votes. Gonzaga faces the Cowboys Tuesday night at the Touchstone Engery All-College Classic in Oklahoma City, Okla.
North Carolina (9-1) trounced Vermont on Tuesday, 93-65, and remained fourth, followed by Wake Forest (10-1), Duke (8-0), Syracuse (11-1) and Kentucky (8-1).
Georgia Tech (8-1) rebounded from its 12-point loss to Gonzaga on December 19 with a 90-48 victory over Charleston Southern on Wednesday and held firm at No. 9. The Yellow Jackets are followed by a pair of Big East teams in Pittsburgh (9-0) and defending national champion Connecticut (6-1).
Arizona and Texas each improved to 8-2 to remain at Nos. 14 and 15, respectively.
Iowa (10-1) climbed one spot to No. 16, trading places with North Carolina State (9-1), which has fallen five rungs in the last two weeks.
The Wolfpack are followed by Alabama (10-1), Louisville (8-2), George Washington (8-1) and Mississippi State (11-2).
Cincinnati (9-0) is No. 22, followed by Michigan State (7-2), Maryland (7-2) and Virginia (8-1) to complete the poll.
The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, withnumber of first-place votes and record in parentheses, totalpoints and previous ranking:(Records through December 26, 2004) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. ILLINOIS (55) (11-0) 1,779 1 2. KANSAS (13) (8-0) 1,699 2 3. OKLAHOMA ST (4) (9-0) 1,678 3 4. NORTH CAROLINA (9-1) 1,530 4 5. WAKE FOREST (10-1) 1,462 5 6. DUKE (8-0) 1,434 6 7. SYRACUSE (11-1) 1,333 7 8. KENTUCKY (8-1) 1,257 8 9. GEORGIA TECH (8-1) 1,225 910. PITTSBURGH (9-0) 1,161 1011. CONNECTICUT (6-1) 976 1112. GONZAGA (9-1) 843 1313. WASHINGTON (10-1) 842 1214. ARIZONA (8-2) 733 1415. TEXAS (8-2) 708 1516. IOWA (10-1) 702 1717. NO CAROLINA ST (9-1) 686 1618. ALABAMA (10-1) 611 1919. LOUISVILLE (8-2) 587 1820. GEO WASHINGTON (8-1) 484 2021. MISSISSIPPI ST (11-2) 437 2122. CINCINNATI (9-0) 342 2223. MICHIGAN ST (7-2) 268 2324. MARYLAND (7-2) 226 2425. VIRGINIA (8-1) 144 25Dropped Out:Others Receiving Votes: MARQUETTE 71, BOSTON COLLEGE 64,WISCONSIN 25, ARKANSAS 23, OKLAHOMA 17, OREGON 11, NOTREDAME 9, WICHITA ST 9, HAWAII 8, OLD DOMINION 6, MIAMI FLA 3,WEST VIRGINIA 3, FLORIDA 2, FRESNO ST 2.
