Bulldogs Up To No. 22 In AP Poll
12/13/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2004
New York, NY (Sports Network) - Illinois remained the top team in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll, while Cincinnati moved into the rankings for the first time this season.
Illinois (9-0) recorded easy wins over Chicago State, Georgetown and Oregon last week to retain the top spot for the second straight week. The Fighting Illini had never before kept the No. 1 ranking for more than a week.
Cincinnati (6-0), meanwhile, joined the rankings at No. 25, and is the only new team this week.
The nationwide media panel gave Illinois 35 first-place votes, 10 more than last week, and a total of 1,748 points.
Gonzaga (7-1) moved up three spots to No. 22 follwoing a road victory at Washingotn State and a home rout of Saint Louis.
Kansas (6-0) remained second in the poll despite losing one first-place vote. The Jayhawks, who beat TCU and Louisiana-Lafayette last week, received 22 top tallies and 1,709 points.
Georgia Tech (6-0) earned 12 first-place votes for the second straight week to stay third in the rankings, while Oklahoma State (7-0) moved up from fifth to fourth. The Cowboys beat Syracuse last week in the Jimmy V Classic and picked up the other three first-place votes.
North Carolina, Wake Forest, Duke, Syracuse, Kentucky and Pittsburgh completed the top 10. The Tar Heels vaulted three places from eighth, while Syracuse fell from fourth to eighth after its 74-60 setback to Oklahoma State at Madison Square Garden.
Connecticut started the second 10, dropping from seventh to 11th after a 61-59 loss at Massachusetts last week, and is followed by North Carolina State, Louisville, Texas, Arizona, Iowa, Alabama, Washington, George Washington and Mississippi State.
Michigan State, Gonzaga, Maryland, Virginia and Cincinnati round out the poll.
Wisconsin was No. 24 last week, but a 63-54 loss at Marquette on Saturday knocked the Badgers out.
A limited schedule of college games this week because of exams features only a handful of top-25 teams facing each other.
On Saturday, Kentucky and Louisville meet at Freedom Hall, Texas visits Wake Forest and Georgia Tech squares off with Gonzaga in Las Vegas.
The Associated Press Top 25 college basketball poll, withnumber of first-place votes and record in parentheses, totalpoints and previous ranking:(Records through December 12, 2004) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. ILLINOIS (35) (9-0) 1,748 1 2. KANSAS (22) (6-0) 1,709 2 3. GEORGIA TECH (12) (6-0) 1,664 3 4. OKLAHOMA ST (3) (7-0) 1,607 5 5. NORTH CAROLINA (7-1) 1,426 8 6. WAKE FOREST (6-1) 1,397 6 7. DUKE (6-0) 1,360 9 8. SYRACUSE (8-1) 1,339 4 9. KENTUCKY (6-1) 1,152 1010. PITTSBURGH (7-0) 1,102 1111. CONNECTICUT (4-1) 1,016 712. NO CAROLINA ST (7-0) 1,007 1213. LOUISVILLE (5-1) 835 1314. TEXAS (6-1) 764 1415. ARIZONA (6-2) 688 1516. IOWA (8-1) 630 1717. ALABAMA (8-1) 576 1818. WASHINGTON (7-1) 543 1619. GEO WASHINGTON (6-1) 494 2120. MISSISSIPPI ST (7-2) 424 2221. MICHIGAN ST (5-2) 370 2022. GONZAGA (7-1) 333 2523. MARYLAND (5-2) 317 2324. VIRGINIA (7-1) 222 1925. CINCINNATI (6-0) 215 NRDropped Out: No. 24 WisconsinOthers Receiving Votes: MARQUETTE 175, WISCONSIN 69, BOSTONCOLLEGE 64, OKLAHOMA 44, NOTRE DAME 30, CREIGHTON 21,FLORIDA 15, NEW MEXICO 9, HAWAII 6, ARKANSAS 5, OREGON 4,PACIFIC 4, MIAMI FLA 3, UAB 3, WICHITA ST 3, OLD DOMINION 2,WEST VIRGINIA 2, AMERICAN 1, IOWA ST 1, WISC MILWAUKEE 1.
