Bulldogs Still 8th In AP Top 25
12/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 26, 2005
NEW YORK (AP) - Duke held the No. 1 spot it has occupied since the preseason rankings after a light week of games failed to produce changes Monday at the top of The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll.
But there was some movement near the bottom of the rankings. Wisconsin came into the poll for the first time this season at No. 24, and West Virginia returned at No. 25 after a four-week absence.
Connecticut, Villanova, Memphis, Florida and Illinois stayed second through sixth.
Wisconsin and West Virginia replaced Tennessee, which fell out after a one-week appearance, and Iowa, which fell out for the first time this season despite being on a three-game winning streak.
Duke (11-0), which beat St. John's 70-57 in its only game last week, was again an overwhelming choice at No. 1. The Blue Devils received 61 of the 69 first-place votes and 1,714 points from the national media panel.
Connecticut (9-0) set a Gampel Pavilion scoring record in a 129-61 victory over Morehead State in its only game last week. The Huskies, ranked second for a third straight week, got seven No. 1 votes and 1,658 points.
Villanova (8-0) received the only other first-place vote.
Washington jumped two places to seventh, while Gonzaga held on at No. 8. Michigan State, Louisville, UCLA, George Washington and Boston College all moved up one spot from last week and are ninth through 13th.
Oklahoma (6-2), which lost 92-68 to West Virginia last week, fell from seventh to 14th.
Texas was No. 15, followed by Maryland, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina State and Nevada.
Ohio State, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Wisconsin and West Virginia were the last five ranked teams.
Wisconsin (9-1) moved into the rankings on a five-game winning streak that includes victories over in-state rivals Wisconsin-Green Bay, Marquette and Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Badgers' only loss was 91-88 at Wake Forest in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
Wisconsin was ranked for all but five weeks last season, reaching as high as No. 18.
West Virginia (7-3) was 14th in the preseason poll and ranked for the first two weeks of the regular season before losing consecutively to Texas, Kentucky and LSU. But the Mountaineers have won their last five games, most recently beating Oklahoma at Oklahoma City.
Tennessee (6-1) moved into the Top 25 last week for the first time since the 2000-01 season. The Volunteers lost 89-73 to Oklahoma State at Oklahoma City in their only game last week.
Iowa (10-3) won three straight games after losing to Northern Iowa and Iowa State, but still fell from the rankings for the first time this season. Starting point guard Jeff Horner injured his knee against Northern Iowa and is expected to return this week.
There are two games featuring ranked teams this week. Gonzaga is at Memphis on Tuesday in a Top-10 matchup. George Washington visits North Carolina State on Friday.
The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, withnumber of first-place votes and record in parentheses, totalpoints and previous ranking:(Records through December 25, 2005) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. DUKE (61) (11-0) 1,714 1 2. CONNECTICUT (7) (9-0) 1,658 2 3. VILLANOVA (1) (8-0) 1,595 3 4. MEMPHIS (9-1) 1,459 4 5. FLORIDA (11-0) 1,401 5 6. ILLINOIS (12-0) 1,361 6 7. WASHINGTON (10-0) 1,270 9 8. GONZAGA (9-2) 1,267 8 9. MICHIGAN ST (10-2) 1,136 1010. LOUISVILLE (9-1) 989 1111. UCLA (10-1) 987 1212. GEO WASHINGTON (8-0) 932 1313. BOSTON COLLEGE (8-2) 801 1414. OKLAHOMA (6-2) 735 715. TEXAS (9-2) 651 1516. MARYLAND (8-2) 638 1617. INDIANA (7-2) 564 1818. KENTUCKY (8-3) 521 1919. NC STATE (9-1) 482 2120. NEVADA (8-1) 413 2021. OHIO ST (8-0) 392 2422. WAKE FOREST (9-2) 268 2223. NORTH CAROLINA (6-2) 169 1724. WISCONSIN (9-1) 136 NR25. WEST VIRGINIA (7-3) 135 NRDropped Out: No. 23 TENNESSEE, No. 25 IOWAOthers Receiving Votes: ARIZONA 125, PITTSBURGH 118, IOWA116, BUCKNELL 90, TENNESSEE 66, SYRACUSE 53, INDIANA ST 40,CLEMSON 39, NORTHERN IOWA 23, MICHIGAN 20, CINCINNATI 18,USC 12, VANDERBILT 7, BUFFALO 4, OKLAHOMA ST 4, ALABAMA 3,ARKANSAS 3, IONA 2, IOWA ST 2, TEXAS A&M 1.
