Dec. 15, 2008
MCLEAN, Virginia (Ticker) -- Following a stunning upset loss, Tennessee has plummeted in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll.
The Volunteers fell 11 spots to No. 19 in the latest college basketball rankings released Monday, two days after suffering an 88-72 loss to unranked Temple.
Tennessee (6-2) never led in the game and allowed Temple's Dionte Christmas to score 26 of his 35 points in the second half.
"We're ranked too high," Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said after the loss. "We have a long way to go." North Carolina (9-0) remained the unanimous No. 1, collecting all 31 first-place votes and 775 overall points from a panel of Division I coaches.
The Tar Heels have won each of their first nine games by double digits, and their smallest margin of victory was a 15-point triumph over then-No. 8 Notre Dame on November 26.
Big East Conference powerhouses Connecticut (8-0) and Pittsburgh (10-0) remained second and third, respectively, while Big 12 rivals Oklahoma (10-0) and Texas (8-1) rounded out the top five.
Duke (8-1) climbed one spot to sixth while Xavier (9-0) moved up two spots into a seventh-place tie with Gonzaga (7-1), which dropped three places following Sunday night's 69-64 loss to unranked Arizona. Gonzaga faces No. 2 UConn Saturday in The Battle in Seattle at KeyArena.
Louisville (6-1) and Wake Forest (9-0) completed the top 10, followed by Syracuse (9-0), UCLA (6-2), Georgetown (7-1), Notre Dame (7-2) and Villanova (10-1).
Ohio State (6-0) climbed five spots to 16th, followed by Arizona State (8-1), Purdue (8-2), Tennessee and Davidson (8-1).
Memphis (5-2) dropped six places to 21st, followed by Michigan State (6-2) and Marquette (8-1). New to the poll are No. 24 Baylor (8-1) and 25th-ranked Clemson (10-0).
Defending national champion Kansas and Miami both fell from 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 December 14, 2008) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. NORTH CAROLINA (31) (9-0) 775 1 2. CONNECTICUT (8-0) 737 2 3. PITTSBURGH (10-0) 713 3 4. OKLAHOMA (10-0) 676 5 5. TEXAS (8-1) 642 6 6. DUKE (8-1) 574 7 7. (tie) GONZAGA (7-1) 552 4 7. (tie) XAVIER (9-0) 552 9 9. LOUISVILLE (6-1) 467 1010. WAKE FOREST (9-0) 466 1111. SYRACUSE (9-0) 406 1612. UCLA (6-2) 369 1413. GEORGETOWN (7-1) 358 1914. NOTRE DAME (7-2) 345 1315. VILLANOVA (10-1) 313 1216. OHIO ST (6-0) 275 2117. ARIZONA ST (8-1) 272 1818. PURDUE (8-2) 252 1719. TENNESSEE (6-2) 246 820. DAVIDSON (8-1) 194 2221. MEMPHIS (5-2) 166 1522. MICHIGAN ST (6-2) 147 2023. MARQUETTE (8-1) 130 2424. BAYLOR (8-1) 119 NR25. CLEMSON (10-0) 65 NRDropped Out: No. 23 KANSAS, No. 25 MIAMI FLOthers Receiving Votes: BYU 62, MIAMI FL 48, MICHIGAN 31,DAYTON 27, BUTLER 19, ARIZONA 15, MISSOURI 15, KANSAS 14,WISCONSIN 14, SAINT MARYS CA 11, ILLINOIS ST 3, FLORIDA 2,LSU 2, MARYLAND 1.
