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Duke is unranked in the Associated Press’s men’s basketball poll, falling from the Top 25 for the first time since February 8, 2016.
The Blue Devils fell to 5-3 on aggregate and 3-1 in the ACC after losing to Virginia Tech. Their 91 straight Top 25 streak was second only to Kansas, which extended their record to 229 weeks. Gonzaga is now No. 2 at 87 weeks.
Gonzaga and Baylor maintained their grip on the top two places, while Villanova remained at No.3.
The Bulldogs again racked up all the votes except the first two which went to the Bears, while the Wildcats remained firmly behind the preseason’s first two despite having not played a game since Dec. 23. . They had a pair of interrupted single-day COVID-19 breaks, including one involving trainer Jay Wright, sidelining them for a month.
“Everyone took care of that,” said Wright, whose team finally returned to the pitch on Tuesday night against Seton Hall. “It’s not just the days you’re away. It keeps guys going after a break.”
The same teams made up the top five this week, although Iowa and Texas traded places. Luka Garza and the Hawkeyes took fourth place after beating Northwestern by 23 road points on Sunday, while the Longhorns fell one spot after their six-game winning streak was stopped by No.12 Texas Tech in from a narrow loss earlier in the week.
Texas won’t play again until Saturday after their game against Iowa State is postponed.
Tennessee dropped from 10th to sixth and was followed by Michigan, who remained at No.7 after losing their first game of the season to No.17 to Minnesota. Houston climbed three spots to eighth, Kansas dropped three spots to ninth, and Wisconsin completed the top 10 after an unbalanced loss to the Wolverines with a serious victory at Rutgers.
Creighton was No.11, followed by the Red Raiders and Virginia, who gained five spots after his resounding victory over No.20 Clemson. West Virginia and the state of Ohio followed next, with Virginia Tech climbing four places to 16th after beating Duke.
The Golden Gophers were followed by Auburn, one of the newcomers to this week’s poll, Missouri and Clemson. The last five were Oregon, Illinois, Connecticut, UCLA, and Saint Louis.
ROLLING TIDE
The Crimson Tide went from unranked to No.18 after improving to 6-0 in the SEC with their seventh straight win. The streak, which includes a win over Tennessee, coincided with a reloaded John Petty Jr. The main goalie returned from a one-game suspension averaging 15.7 points over the past six games, including 23. points in a Kentucky 20 point eruption. .
IN AND OUT
The Bruins were the other newcomer to this week’s poll after advancing to 11-2 and 7-0 in the Pac-12 with back-to-back wins over Washington State and Washington. Alabama and UCLA replaced Duke and Louisville, who were the first of the other teams to receive votes after the Cardinals lost their first game to the ACC in Miami.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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