Memphis Is Unanimous No. 1 in AP Top 25

[February 05, 2008]  SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- This week, it's unanimous for No. 1 Memphis. The only unbeaten team in Division I received all 72 first-place votes from the national media panel Monday and became the first unanimous No. 1 team in The Associated Press college basketball poll since Florida did it for two weeks last February on the way to a second straight national championship.

The Tigers (21-0) won 89-77 at Houston and beat UTEP 70-64 last week.

Duke and North Carolina, who meet Wednesday night, moved up one spot to second and third. Kansas, which also started the week without a defeat only to lose 81-73 at Kansas State, dropped to fourth.

UCLA held fifth and was followed by Georgetown, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Stanford and Butler. The No. 10 ranking matches Butler's highest -- the Bulldogs reached that spot for one week last season.

Michigan State, which lost 85-76 to Penn State on Saturday, dropped from eighth to 11th and was followed by Texas, Xavier, Indiana, Drake, Marquette, Washington State, Texas A&M, Connecticut and Kansas State.

The last five ranked teams were Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, Purdue and Saint Mary's.

Connecticut, Notre Dame and Purdue all made their first Top 25 appearances of the season, replacing Florida, Mississippi and Baylor.

Connecticut (16-5) moved into the rankings for the first time since January 2007 on a five-game winning streak with three of the victories over ranked teams -- Marquette, Indiana and Pittsburgh.

Notre Dame (16-4) was ranked for 11 weeks last season, including the last three. The Fighting Irish, who extended their home winning streak to 33 games with a victory over DePaul on Saturday, are 6-2 in the Big East, their best conference start since 2002-03.

Purdue (17-5) entered the poll on a seven-game winning streak that had the Boilermakers tied with Wisconsin for first place in the Big Ten. They were last ranked in 2003-04.

Florida, Mississippi and Baylor all dropped out after conference losses Saturday.

The Gators (18-4) were gone after a one-week stint at No. 20 following an 80-61 loss to Arkansas.

Mississippi (16-4) beat then-No. 19 Vanderbilt 74-58 earlier in the week, but the Rebels fell from 24th after losing 80-77 to South Carolina.

Baylor (16-4) had been ranked for two weeks -- its first time in the poll since 1969 -- before losing 80-72 to then-No. 10 Texas.

The additions of Connecticut and Notre Dame gave the Big East five teams in the Top 25, one more than the Big 12 and Big Ten. The state of Indiana also has four ranked teams with Notre Dame and Purdue joining Butler and Indiana.

[Associated Press; By JIM O'CONNELL]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.