New York, NY – Kentucky remained the top team in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll, while Harvard is ranked for the first time and is among the four newcomers this week.
The Wildcats kept the top spot for a second straight week after wins over St. John's and North Carolina. Kentucky, which escaped with a 73-72 win over the Tar Heels on Saturday, earned 47 first-place votes -- one more than last week -- and a total of 1,606 points from a nationwide media panel.
Ohio State held on to the second spot with 18 first-place votes. The Buckeyes also won a matchup of top-five teams last week with an 85-63 thumping of then- third-ranked Duke. The Blue Devils dropped four places to seventh this week.
Syracuse, which toppled Florida last week, moved up one spot to third and is followed by North Carolina and Louisville in the top five. North Carolina crept up one slot despite the loss in Lexington, as the Tar Heels also had a quality win last week against Wisconsin, while Louisville rallied past Vanderbilt last week and slid up one place.
Baylor, Duke, Xavier, Connecticut and Missouri complete this week's top 10. Xavier and Missouri each moved up three places.
The second 10 consists of Marquette, Florida, Kansas, Wisconsin, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Mississippi State, Georgetown, Creighton and Michigan. Wisconsin tumbled five places from ninth as the Badgers followed their loss at North Carolina with a home setback to Marquette, which moved up five places from 16th.
Memphis, Texas A&M, Gonzaga, Illinois and Harvard are the last five teams ranked this week. Gonzaga dropped four places from 19th after a loss at Illinois, which moved into the poll for the first time this season.
Joining Illinois and Harvard as newcomers this week are Georgetown and Creighton. Harvard is 8-0 with a win against previously-ranked Florida State to its credit, but the Crimson will have a tough test this week with a visit to Connecticut.
Georgetown beat Alabama last week to move into the poll for the first time this year, while Creighton is 7-0 and ranked for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
Vanderbilt, California, UNLV and Saint Louis all fell out of this week's poll. Vandy was ranked seventh in the preseason, but has struggled to a 5-3 mark in a tough early-season schedule, while Cal lost to San Diego State on Sunday. UNLV, which entered the poll last week after knocking off then-No. 1 North Carolina, survived in double-overtime against UC Santa Barbara before losing at Wichita State on Sunday. Saint Louis also had a one-week stay, losing at Loyola Marymount last week.
In addition to Thursday's UConn/Harvard matchup, Ohio State will visit Kansas on Saturday in this week's only other battle of ranked teams.
