Bulldogs Fall From AP Top 25
12/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 25, 2006
NEW YORK (Ticker) -- An impressive win over Michigan allowed UCLA to move within a vote of being the unanimous No. 1.
The Bruins strengthened its position as the top team in the nation in the latest Associated Press college basketball poll, released Monday.
UCLA (11-0) continued its undefeated start to the season with a 92-55 rout of Michigan on Saturday. The Pac-10 Conference school is off to its best start since the 1993-94 campaign, when the Bruins began with 14 straight wins.
Behind its impressive play, UCLA received 71 first-place votes and 1,799 points from a panel of 72 writers and broadcasters.
The only other team to collect a first-place vote was second-ranked North Carolina (10-1), which received 1,720 points.
Fresh off a convincing 86-60 win over then-No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday, Florida (11-2) climbed two spots to No. 3. The defending champion Gators helped hold freshman sensation Greg Oden in check, limiting him to seven points and six rebounds behind the play of Al Horford and Joakim Noah.
Wisconsin (12-1) is fourth, while Duke (11-1) rounds out the first five.
The Buckeyes (10-2) dropped three spots to sixth, followed by Arizona (9-1), Alabama (11-1), Kansas (10-2) and Pittsburgh (11-2).
Texas A&M (10-2) is 11th, in front of Connecticut (10-0), Oklahoma State (12-1), Washington (10-1) and Butler (12-1).
Absorbing consecutive losses at the Las Vegas Classic, Wichita State (9-2) fell eight spots to 16th.
Louisiana State (7-3) is 17th, ahead of Marquette (12-2), Notre Dame (10-1) and Oregon (11-0). The Ducks are one of four undefeated teams in the poll.
Tennessee (10-2) is new to the poll at 21st after posting wins against then-No. 15 Oklahoma State and Texas this week.
Memphis (9-3) is No. 22, followed by Air Force (11-1), Nevada (10-1).
New addition Clemson (12-0) rounds out the poll. The Tigers are off to their best start since the 1986-87 edition won their first 17 games.
Gonzaga and Syracuse dropped out. The Bulldogs lost to then sixth-ranked Duke last Thursday 61-54 at Madison Square Garden. Gonzaga is the first team listed among the others receiving votes category.
The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, withnumber of first-place votes and record in parentheses, totalpoints and previous ranking:(Records through December 24, 2006) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. UCLA (71) (11-0) 1,799 1 2. NORTH CAROLINA (1) (10-1) 1,720 2 3. FLORIDA (11-2) 1,615 5 4. WISCONSIN (12-1) 1,577 4 5. DUKE (11-1) 1,457 6 6. OHIO ST (10-2) 1,351 3 7. ARIZONA (9-1) 1,347 9 8. ALABAMA (11-1) 1,308 10 9. KANSAS (10-2) 1,246 1110. PITTSBURGH (11-2) 1,065 711. TEXAS A&M (10-2) 1,001 1312. CONNECTICUT (10-0) 982 1413. OKLAHOMA ST (12-1) 853 1514. WASHINGTON (10-1) 845 1715. BUTLER (12-1) 734 1616. WICHITA ST (9-2) 603 817. LSU (7-3) 596 1218. MARQUETTE (12-2) 571 1919. NOTRE DAME (10-1) 517 2020. OREGON (11-0) 501 2121. TENNESSEE (10-2) 366 NR22. MEMPHIS (9-3) 300 1823. AIR FORCE (11-1) 253 2424. NEVADA (10-1) 203 2525. CLEMSON (12-0) 152 NRDropped Out: No. 22 GONZAGA, No. 23 SYRACUSEOthers Receiving Votes: GONZAGA 129, TEXAS 57, MICHIGAN ST47, FLORIDA ST 45, MARYLAND 35, SYRACUSE 24, KENTUCKY 16,MISSOURI ST 14, WASHINGTON ST 14, SOUTHN ILLINOIS 9, GEORGIATECH 9, GEORGETOWN 8, VIRGINIA 7, PURDUE 6, TEXAS TECH 5,DREXEL 5, ILLINOIS 3, DAYTON 2, NEW MEXICO 2, BOSTON COLLEGE1.
