Gonzaga Jumps Two Spots In AP Poll
12/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 11, 2006
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- The top three teams remained the same in the Associated Press college basketball poll. However, Greg Oden and Ohio State are gaining on them.
The Buckeyes received two first-place votes and moved up one spot to fourth in the latest poll released Monday.
UCLA, Pittsburgh and North Carolina remained 1-2-3 in the rankings. Alabama and Texas A&M took considerable tumbles and three new schools entered the poll.
The Bruins (8-0) received 58 first-place votes and 1,786 points from a panel of 72 writers and broadcasters. They crushed Cal State Fullerton before edging Texas A&M, 65-62, in the Wooden Classic.
Pittsburgh (11-0) received 11 first-place votes and 1,707 points. North Carolina (7-1) got one top vote and 1,664 points.
In its only game, Ohio State (8-1) crushed Cleveland State, 78-57, as Oden - a 7-foot freshman - made his first start and scored 16 points without missing a shot. In the poll, the Buckeyes received 1,591 points.
Ohio State supplanted Alabama, which lost to Notre Dame and fell to ninth. Defending national champion Florida (8-2) moved up two spots to fifth.
Duke (9-1), Wisconsin (9-1), Wichita State (7-0), Alabama (8-1) and Arizona (7-1). Wisconsin and Arizona climbed four rungs each.
Kansas (8-2) moved up one spot to 11th and is followed by LSU (5-2), Texas A&M (7-2), Connecticut (8-0), Oklahoma State (11-0), Gonzaga (9-2), Washington (7-1), Butler (8-1), Memphis (7-2) and Marquette (9-2).
An overtime loss to Texas dropped LSU three spots. Texas A&M dropped from sixth with losses to LSU and UCLA. Washington's 20-point loss to Gonzaga cost it four slots.
Gonzaga begins a tough stretch this Saturday when they play Georgia at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Geo., in the Chick-fil-A Classic For Kids, followed by a Dec. 21 game against No. 6 Duke in MAdison Square Garden and a Dec. 30 matchup with No. 25 Nevada in the Battle in Seattle in KeyArena.
Connecticut moved up five spots and Oklahoma State jumped seven after a 72-68 win over Syracuse in the Jimmy V Classic.
The final five are Notre Dame (7-1), Oregon (7-0), Syracuse (8-2), Air Force (10-1) and Nevada (7-1). Notre Dame, Oregon and Air Force are newcomers.
The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, withnumber of first-place votes and record in parentheses, totalpoints and previous ranking:(Records through December 10, 2006) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. UCLA (58) (8-0) 1,786 1 2. PITTSBURGH (11) (10-0) 1,707 2 3. NORTH CAROLINA (1) (7-1) 1,664 3 4. OHIO ST (2) (8-1) 1,591 5 5. FLORIDA (8-2) 1,377 7 6. DUKE (9-1) 1,361 7 7. WISCONSIN (9-1) 1,267 11 8. WICHITA ST (7-0) 1,250 10 9. ALABAMA (8-1) 1,174 410. ARIZONA (7-1) 1,157 1411. KANSAS (8-2) 1,104 1212. LSU (5-2) 960 913. TEXAS A&M (7-2) 886 614. CONNECTICUT (8-0) 872 1915. OKLAHOMA ST (11-0) 738 2216. GONZAGA (9-2) 711 1817. WASHINGTON (7-1) 566 1318. BUTLER (10-1) 483 1519. MEMPHIS (7-2) 467 1620. MARQUETTE (9-2) 443 1721. NOTRE DAME (7-1) 312 NR22. OREGON (7-0) 271 NR23. SYRACUSE (8-2) 171 2124. AIR FORCE (10-1) 142 NR25. NEVADA (7-1) 123 20Dropped Out: No. 23 MARYLAND, No. 24 XAVIER, No. 25 GEORGIATECHOthers Receiving Votes: TEXAS 102, MISSOURI ST 100, PURDUE84, CLEMSON 65, SOUTHN ILLINOIS 55, MICHIGAN ST 52,TENNESSEE 52, FLORIDA ST 45, MARYLAND 42, VIRGINIA 37,BOSTON COLLEGE 30, GEORGETOWN 24, MISSOURI 22, ARKANSAS 17,DAYTON 16, XAVIER 14, GEORGIA TECH 11, WASHINGTON ST 9,MICHIGAN 7, WESTRN KENTUCKY 7, KENTUCKY 5, NORTHERN IOWA 5,SOUTHERN MISS 4, CREIGHTON 3, UCF 3, ILLINOIS 2, WESTVIRGINIA 2, ARMY 1, VANDERBILT 1.
