UK, U of L hold spots in men's hoops poll

Kentucky leaves no doubt about its standing atop the AP Top 25 poll.

The Wildcats (12-0) are the unanimous No. 1 for the third week in a row, again getting all 65 first-place votes.

The new rankings Monday came two days after Kentucky's 83-44 romp over UCLA. The Wildcats scored the game's first 24 points and led 41-7 at halftime in a matchup of the two teams with the most NCAA championships.

No. 22 Baylor (9-1), a Sweet 16 team last season, is the highest-ranked of four Top 25 newcomers. TCU (11-0), another Big 12 team, debuted at No. 25, its first poll appearance since the 1998-99 season.

Northern Iowa (10-1) returned to the poll at No. 23, ahead of Colorado State (11-0).

Duke (10-0) stayed second, followed by Arizona (12-0) and Louisville (10-0). The only change in the top 10 was Virginia (11-0) moving up to fifth and swapping spots with Wisconsin (10-1), the only Top 25 team that was idle last week. Villanova (11-0), Gonzaga (11-1), Texas (10-1) and Kansas (9-1) rounded out the top 10.

Notre Dame (11-1), which beat Purdue 94-63 in its only game last week, made the biggest upward move, five spots to 16th.

Falling out were Miami, San Diego State, Butler and Michigan State.

The Associated Press Top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 21, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

Team - Record - Pts - Prv

1. Kentucky (65) - 12-0 - 1,625 - 1

2. Duke - 10-0 - 1,548 - 2

3. Arizona - 12-0 - 1,502 - 3

4. Louisville - 10-0 - 1,344 - 4

5. Virginia - 11-0 - 1,336 - 6

6. Wisconsin - 10-1 - 1,322 - 5

7. Villanova - 11-0 - 1,214 - 7

8. Gonzaga - 11-1 - 1,170 - 8

9. Texas - 10-1 - 1,149 - 9

10. Kansas - 9-1 - 1,096 - 10

11. Wichita St. - 8-1 - 966 - 11

12. Iowa St. - 9-1 - 821 - 13

13. Washington - 10-0 - 798 - 16

14. Utah - 8-2 - 796 - 14

15. Maryland - 11-1 - 678 - 17

16. Notre Dame - 11-1 - 536 - 21

17. St. John's - 9-1 - 517 - 20

18. West Virginia - 10-1 - 464 - 22

19. Oklahoma - 7-3 - 436 - 15

20. North Carolina - 8-3 - 414 - 24

21. Ohio St. - 9-2 - 411 - 12

22. Baylor - 9-1 - 203 - —

23. N. Iowa - 10-1 - 162 - —

24. Colorado St. - 11-0 - 144 - —

25. TCU - 11-0 - 120 - —

Others receiving votes: Georgetown 857-3, San Diego St. 72, VCU 70, California 32, Miami 27, Arkansas 22, Indiana 11, LSU 7, Old Dominion 7, Florida 4, Penn St. 4, Oklahoma St. 3, Seton Hall 3, Butler 2, Minnesota 2, Davidson 1, Valparaiso 1.