New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - Pittsburgh remained the top team in the latest Associated Press men's college
basketball poll, while Wake Forest moved into the second spot after its victory over North Carolina on Sunday.
The Panthers (15-0) again received 70 of the 72 first-place votes and 1,798 points from a nationwide media panel. Pittsburgh played just once last week, rolling to a 90-67 victory over St. John's on Sunday.
Wake Forest remained unbeaten Sunday with a 92-89 victory over North Carolina in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons (14-0) picked up the other two first-place votes and 1,686 points, sliding up two spots from fourth last week. It marks the highest ranking for Wake since a two-week run at No. 1 in 2004.
Duke, despite a pair of wins last week, fell one spot into third, while Connecticut moved up one spot to fourth after wins at West Virginia and Cincinnati.
North Carolina fell two spots into fifth after its second straight conference loss. The Tar Heels had been an undisputed No. 1 until last week when a loss to Boston College knocked them down two places.
Oklahoma, Michigan State, Syracuse, UCLA and Clemson round out the top 10. Clemson (16-0) joins Pitt and Wake as the only unbeaten teams in major college basketball.
The second 10 consists of Texas, Notre Dame, Georgetown, Marquette, Xavier, Arizona State, Butler, Minnesota, Purdue and Louisville. Texas and Georgetown each dropped four spots following losses last week, while Purdue fell five places.
Baylor, California, Villanova, Tennessee and Michigan are the last five teams ranked this week. Tennessee tumbled nine spots, while California and Michigan are new to the poll this week.
California has won nine in a row and is ranked for the first time since March of 2003, while Michigan had a two-week stay in the poll earlier this year.
Boston College and West Virginia fell out of the rankings. Boston College earned the No. 17 ranking following its stunning win against North Carolina, then went out last week and lost home games to Harvard and Miami-Florida. West Virginia also lost twice last week, falling to Connecticut and Marquette in the difficult Big East.
West Virginia's fall leaves the Big East with eight ranked teams after last week's record of nine.
This week's matchups involving two ranked teams includes a Big East battle between Syracuse and Georgetown in the nation's capital on Wednesday. Both teams will also face ranked competition on Saturday, as Syracuse hosts Notre Dame and Georgetown visits Duke. Also Saturday, Wake Forest meets Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum, Arizona State takes on UCLA at Pauley Pavilion and Pitt travels to Louisville.