Florida, SDSU move into AP top 5

ByABC News
January 27, 2014, 2:07 PM

— -- Arizona and Syracuse are 1-2 in The Associated Press poll for the eighth consecutive week.

The Wildcats (20-0) are again a runaway No. 1, receiving 63 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel. The Orange (19-0) got the other No. 1 votes.

Their eight straight weeks as a one-two punch is still a month from matching the record. UCLA and Marquette were 1-2 for 12 consecutive weeks in 1971-72.

The current streak is the longest since the first eight weeks of the 2008-09 season, but both UNC and UConn lost the following week and dropped out of the top two spots.

This was Arizona's 37th week ever as the No. 1 team in the AP poll, tying Ohio State for eighth place on the all-time list.

Florida jumped from sixth to third, while Wichita State (21-0), the other undefeated Division I team, moved up one spot to fourth.

San Diego State and Kansas both moved up two places to fifth and sixth.

They were followed by Michigan State, which dropped from third, Oklahoma State, Villanova and Michigan

Michigan jumped from No. 21 to 10th with an impressive streak of its own against ranked teams. The Wolverines have won three straight games against top-10 teams -- Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan State.

Creighton moved back into the rankings at No. 20 following its 96-68 thrashing of then-No. 4 Villanova last week. The Bluejays have been ranked a total of four weeks this season and never for more than two straight weeks.

At No. 25, Texas moved into the poll for the first time since 2010-11, a season in which the Longhorns were in the final 17 polls and reached as high as No. 3.

Texas will play its fourth consecutive game against an AP Top 25 opponent when it hosts No. 8 Kansas on Saturday, the first time in program history the Longhorns have played four straight games against Top 25 teams.

Texas has beaten three straight ranked opponents -- Iowa State, Kansas State and Baylor -- in as many games for the first time in school history. Texas won four straight games against ranked opponents during 2010-11, but that came during a five-game span.

Kansas also had a four-game winning streak over ranked opponents -- Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma State and Baylor -- that ended when the Jayhawks beat TCU.

Texas moving into the Top 25 also means that seven of the 10 Big 12 teams have been ranked at one point in the season. The record for ranked teams from one conference in a season is 10 by the 16-team Big East in 2010-11.

But two Big 12 teams dropped out of the rankings this week. Kansas State fell from 22nd after losses to Texas and Iowa State, the Wildcats' first time losing consecutive games since November.

Baylor dropped out from 24th, the Bears' first time out of the rankings this season. The Bears were No. 25 in the preseason poll and got as high as No. 7 before their current four-game losing streak to Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas.

Among games between two ranked teams this week, No. 17 Duke visits No. 18 Pittsburgh on Monday and then travels to No. 2 Syracuse on Saturday.

Oklahoma, Iowa State and Kansas all have two double-ranked games this week, a problem you face when half your conference is in the Top 25.

No. 23 Oklahoma hosts No. 8 Oklahoma State on Monday, and the Sooners are at No. 16 Iowa State on Saturday. The Cyclones' other game against a ranked team is Wednesday at No. 6 Kansas. The Jayhawks' other ranked game is Saturday at No. 25 Texas.

The other double-ranked games are No. 7 Michigan State at No. 15 Iowa, No. 13 Cincinnati at No. 12 Louisville and No. 24 Ohio State at No. 14 Wisconsin.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.