Mon Jan 14 14:56:28 2008

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No change at the top: UNC, Memphis, Kansas still top poll

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New York, NY (Sports Network) - North Carolina, Memphis and Kansas made it through the weekend as the only unbeaten teams in Division I men's basketball and remained the top three teams in the latest Associated Press poll.

North Carolina (17-0) is off to its best start since the 1997-98 squad also opened with 17 wins. The Tar Heels pummeled NC State on Saturday in a 93-62 decision and remained the top team in the rankings with 45 first-place votes and a total of 1,765 points from a nationwide media panel.

Despite the lopsided win, and another triumph last week over UNC-Asheville, Carolina had one fewer first-place vote and three fewer total points. Still, the Tar Heels have held the No. 1 ranking since the preseason.

Memphis (15-0) notched 24 first-place votes -- one less than last week -- and kept the second slot. Kansas picked up the two extra No. 1 votes for a total of three, but remained third in the poll.

UCLA, which handed Washington State its first loss of the season on Saturday, moved up a spot to fourth. Georgetown, Tennessee, Duke, Washington State, Indiana and Texas A&M round out the top 10.

Michigan State, which dropped a 43-36 decision to Iowa on Saturday, fell five spots to 11th and is followed by Butler, Marquette, Dayton, Pittsburgh, Vanderbilt, Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Texas and Xavier.

Vanderbilt and Ole Miss also suffered their first losses of the season last week. The Commodores lost in double-overtime at Kentucky on Saturday and fell three spots in the rankings, while the Rebels dropped a two-point decision at Tennessee last Wednesday and tumbled two spots.

The last five teams ranked this week are Miami-Florida, Arizona State, Rhode Island, Clemson and Villanova.

Arizona State is the lone newcomer this week, replacing Stanford. The Cardinal dropped out after a 71-66 loss at Oregon on Sunday. The Sun Devils, who will play at Stanford on Saturday, have won nine in a row since a December 2 loss at Nebraska.

Rhode Island, Villanova and Clemson all remained in the rankings despite losses last week.

There are only a trio of games involving a pair of ranked teams this week, starting Monday when Georgetown travels to Pittsburgh in the Big East. Also, Vanderbilt visits Tennessee on Thursday in the SEC and Clemson heads to Duke in the ACC on Saturday.