Syracuse maintains top spot in men's hoops poll

New York, NY – Syracuse passed its first road test of the ranked team in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll.

The Orange (11-0) hadn't left the state of New York prior to Saturday and left Tobacco Road with an 88-72 win over the Wolfpack. Syracuse received 53 first- place votes -- two more than last week -- and a total of 1,585 points from a nationwide media panel.

Ohio State, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Baylor and Duke each held their places from second through seventh. Ohio State picked up five No. 1 votes, while Kentucky earned four and Louisville garnered two.

Connecticut, Missouri and Marquette round out this week's top 10.

The second 10 consists of Florida, Kansas, Wisconsin, Xavier, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Indiana, Mississippi State, Michigan State and Michigan.

Xavier tumbled six places out of the top 10 after a 64-42 loss to Oral Roberts on Sunday. The Musketeers had been unbeaten prior to the contest, but played without their top two scorers and another starter as the result of a suspension stemming from the brawl with Cincinnati the previous week.

The last five teams ranked this week are UNLV, Murray State, Creighton, Virginia and Illinois.

UNLV moved back into the rankings after a two-week absence following Saturday's 64-48 win over Illinois, which dropped six places from 19th after its first loss of the season. Virginia is ranked for the first time since the 2007-08 season and is off to a 9-1 start, with its signature win coming against Michigan in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Texas A&M, Alabama and Vanderbilt fell out of this week's poll. The Aggies lost by 20 points against Florida on Saturday, while the Crimson Tide dropped its third game in the last four tries with a 71-58 setback to Kansas State. Vandy, which has been in and out of the rankings all season and was tied for 25th last week, lost at home to Indiana State on Saturday to fall to 6-4.

The lone matchup of ranked teams this week features Illinois and Missouri in the Braggin' Rights Game in St. Louis.