Nov. 24, 2008
McLEAN, Virginia (Ticker) -- North Carolina was a unanimous selection as the nation's top-ranked team in the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, which was released Monday.
After wins double-digit wins over Kentucky and UC Santa Barbara last week, the Tar Heels (3-0) garnered all 31 first-place votes and 775 points overall.
Connecticut (4-0) lost its first-place vote but still remained second with 730 points following three wins last week.
Gonzaga (2-0) jumped one spot to 10th. The Bulldogs open play in the Old Spice Classic Thursday, a field that has a combined 19-1 record through games of Sunday. Gonzaga faces Oklahoma State in the first-day nightcap, then faces either University of Maryland or sixth-ranked Michigan State Friday. Also in the field but opposite Gonzaga in the bracket are 12th-ranked Tennessee and 16th-ranked Georgetown.
Two more Big East schools are behind UConn, with Louisville (2-0) and Pittsburgh (4-0) third and fourth, respectively.
Duke (6-0), out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, rounds out the top five.
Michigan State (2-0) is sixth, followed by Texas (2-0), Notre Dame (2-0) and Purdue ahead of the Bulldogs.
UCLA (3-1), which endured a surprising loss to Michigan last week, dropped seven spots to 11th and is followed by Tennessee (3-0), Oklahoma (4-0), Arizona State (3-0) and Marquette (3-0).
Georgetown (2-0) is 16th, followed by Memphis (4-1), Florida (3-0), Wisconsin (4-0) and Xavier (5-0), which entered the poll following its 63-58 win over Memphis on Sunday.
The final five are Miami (2-1), Villanova (3-0), Kansas (2-0), Wake Forest (2-0) and Davidson (3-1).
Southern California (3-2) was the only team to drop out of the rankings.
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 November 23, 2008) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. NORTH CAROLINA (31) (3-0) 775 1 2. CONNECTICUT (4-0) 730 2 3. LOUISVILLE (2-0) 697 3 4. PITTSBURGH (4-0) 635 6 5. DUKE (6-0) 625 5 6. MICHIGAN ST (2-0) 615 7 7. TEXAS (2-0) 576 8 8. NOTRE DAME (2-0) 551 9 9. PURDUE (4-0) 516 1010. GONZAGA (2-0) 481 1111. UCLA (3-1) 437 412. TENNESSEE (3-0) 434 1313. OKLAHOMA (4-0) 415 1414. ARIZONA ST (3-0) 343 1515. MARQUETTE (3-0) 284 1716. GEORGETOWN (2-0) 251 1817. MEMPHIS (4-1) 246 1218. FLORIDA (3-0) 238 1919. WISCONSIN (4-0) 171 2220. XAVIER (5-0) 166 NR21. MIAMI FL (2-1) 146 1622. VILLANOVA (3-0) 143 2323. KANSAS (2-0) 125 2424. WAKE FOREST (2-0) 123 2525. DAVIDSON (3-1) 100 21Dropped Out: No. 20 USCOthers Receiving Votes: UNLV 58, SAINT MARYS CA 43, OHIO ST29, BAYLOR 27, WEST VIRGINIA 19, WASHINGTON ST 15, SYRACUSE14, SIENA 10, CREIGHTON 8, TEXAS A&M 7, BYU 6, USC 4, UAB 3,CLEMSON 3, MICHIGAN 3, OKLAHOMA ST 2, WASHINGTON 1.
