Feb. 9, 2009
MCLEAN, Virginia (Ticker) -- Following two more wins, Connecticut was a near unanimous pick in the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll released Monday.
The Huskies (22-1), who extended their winning streak to 11 following victories over Louisville and Michigan, received 774 points and 30 of 31 first-place votes from a nationwide panel of coaches.
Last week, Connecticut took over the top spot in the poll for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 season, when it was upset by Syracuse in the Big East Conference tournament.
The remaining first-place vote this week went to Oklahoma (23-1), which held on to the No. 2 spot.
No. 3 North Carolina (21-2) and No. 4 Pittsburgh (21-2) climbed one spot while Duke (20-3) dropped two notches after getting routed at Clemson (74-47) and needing overtime to hold off Miami (78-75).
UCLA (19-4) surged into the top 10, jumping six notches to No.
6. The Bruins are followed by Louisville (18-4), Wake Forest (18-3), Michigan State (19-4) and Memphis (20-3) complete the top 10.
Clemson (19-3) starts the second 10, followed by Marquette (20-3), Villanova (19-4), Xavier (20-3), Butler (21-2), Kansas (19-4), Utah State (23-1), Arizona State (18-5), Missouri (20-4) and Illinois (19-5).
Kansas, the defending national champions, made the week's biggest gain, climbing eight spots to No. 16, while No. 19 Missouri became the third Big 12 team in the top 25 after being unranked last week.
The highlight of Missouri's week was a 69-65 upset of No. 17 Texas, which dropped out after extending its losing streak to three games.
Completing the poll were Gonzaga (17-5), Syracuse (18-6), Purdue (17-6), Washington (17-6) and Florida State (18-5). The Seminoles entered the top 25 for the first time this season on the strength of their 65-61 upset of then-No. 10 Clemson. Gonzaga lost to then 14th-ranked Memphis last Saturday in a battle of Top 20 teams.
Also falling out was No. 19 Minnesota.
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 February 8, 2009) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. CONNECTICUT (30) (22-1) 774 1 2. OKLAHOMA (1) (23-1) 735 2 3. NORTH CAROLINA (21-2) 711 4 4. PITTSBURGH (21-2) 689 5 5. DUKE (20-3) 604 3 6. UCLA (19-4) 554 12 7. LOUISVILLE (18-4) 553 7 8. WAKE FOREST (18-3) 541 6 9. MICHIGAN ST (19-4) 521 1410. MEMPHIS (20-3) 486 1511. CLEMSON (19-3) 456 1012. MARQUETTE (20-3) 446 813. VILLANOVA (19-4) 416 1614. XAVIER (20-3) 375 915. BUTLER (21-2) 346 1116. KANSAS (19-4) 300 2417. UTAH ST (23-1) 258 2218. ARIZONA ST (18-5) 214 2319. MISSOURI (20-4) 162 NR20. ILLINOIS (19-5) 143 2121. GONZAGA (17-5) 124 1822. SYRACUSE (18-6) 115 2023. PURDUE (17-6) 114 1324. WASHINGTON (17-6) 86 2525. FLORIDA ST (18-5) 62 NRDropped Out: No. 17 TEXAS, No. 19 MINNESOTAOthers Receiving Votes: OHIO ST 55, LSU 50, TEXAS 50, DAYTON34, MINNESOTA 30, FLORIDA 26, DAVIDSON 9, UTAH 9, SOUTHCAROLINA 7, BYU 5, SAINT MARYS CA 5, CALIFORNIA 3, SAN DIEGOST 3, PENN ST 2, ARIZONA 1, UNLV 1.
