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Sports

Kentucky no longer unanimous No. 1

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

New York, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - The start of the Southeastern Conference season for Kentucky has proven to be tougher than expected, and two overtime wins for the Wildcats have cost them their unanimous No. 1 ranking in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll.

Kentucky needed overtime to squeeze past Ole Miss in its SEC opener last Tuesday and went to double-overtime to beat Texas A&M on Saturday in its first conference road game.

Still, the Wildcats managed to prevail and stay undefeated. However, two members of the media panel decided to switch their No. 1 votes, ending Kentucky's run of five straight weeks as the undisputed top choice.

Kentucky was still first on 63 ballots for a total of 1,623 points, while Virginia picked up the other two No. 1 votes and moved up one spot into the second position after Duke suffered its first loss on Sunday with a setback at NC State. The Cavaliers remained unbeaten with a win Saturday at Notre Dame.

The Blue Devils slipped two spots to fourth, just behind Gonzaga, which moved up three spots from sixth. Villanova, Louisville, Wisconsin, Utah, Kansas and Arizona complete this week's top 10.

In addition to Duke's surprising loss, Wisconsin, Louisville and Arizona were other top-10 losers this past weekend. The Badgers, without two of their top players, lost at Rutgers and dropped three spots from fourth. The Cardinals, following a one-point thriller at North Carolina, dipped just one spot from fifth. The Wildcats fell three spots from seventh after a Sunday setback at Oregon State.

The second 10 consists of Iowa State, Notre Dame, Wichita State, Maryland, North Carolina, West Virginia, VCU, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. Iowa State vaulted six spots from 17th for the largest jump within the poll, while Texas had the biggest fall, tumbling 10 places from 10th after losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Seton Hall, despite a loss at Xavier, remained in the poll at No. 21 and is followed by Baylor and newcomers Northern Iowa, Oklahoma State and Wyoming.

Northern Iowa was ranked earlier this season, while Oklahoma State and Wyoming are in the poll for the first time this season. Wyoming was last ranked in 1988.

Ohio State, St. John's and Old Dominion each fell out of the poll after losses last week. The Buckeyes were 22nd and fell at Indiana on Saturday, while St. John's was 24th and suffered its third straight loss in its lone outing of the week last Tuesday against Villanova. Old Dominion was ranked for the first time ever last week and fell at Western Kentucky on Saturday.

A number of Big 12 ranked matchups are on tap this week, as Oklahoma State visits Kansas and West Virginia hosts Oklahoma on Tuesday. Iowa State heads to Baylor on Wednesday, while Saturday's slate features West Virginia at Texas, Kansas at Iowa State and the Bedlam battle between Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in Norman.

Also Saturday, a pair of ACC heavyweights meet when Louisville welcomes Duke and another top-10 tussle matches Pac-12 contenders Utah and Arizona in Tucson.