Orange still unanimous AP No. 1
— -- Even Larry Brown was young the last time SMU was ranked.
In their second season under the 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach, the No. 23 Mustangs moved into the Top 25 for the first time since the next-to-last poll of 1984-85, a season when they reached as high as No. 2.
Syracuse is a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll for the second straight week. The Orange (23-0) received all 65 first-place votes from the national media panel Monday.
Arizona, Florida, Wichita State, San Diego State and Villanova remained second through sixth. Wichita State (25-0) is the only other unbeaten team in Division I.
Kansas moved up one spot to seventh, and Duke jumped three spots to eighth. Michigan State and Cincinnati round out the top 10.
SMU (19-5) moved in off a 76-53 victory over then-No. 7 Cincinnati, a win that snapped the Bearcats' 15-game winning streak. It was the Mustangs' third win over a ranked team in a seven-game span since they moved back into a renovated Moody Coliseum five weeks ago.
Before the streak, SMU hadn't beaten a ranked team since December 2003, and the last time the Mustangs beat more than one ranked team in a season was 1984-85, when Jon Koncak was the star player and Dave Bliss was coach. Incidentally, the '84-85 team lost nine of its final 16 games and finished the season unranked, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
Other ranked teams SMU has beaten this season were then-No. 17 Connecticut and then-No. 22 Memphis, like Cincinnati, all American Athletic Conference games.
The American has hit an impressive height in its first season. With SMU moving into the rankings this week, the conference has five members in the Top 25, joining the Big Ten for the most.
No. 10 Cincinnati, No. 13 Louisville, No. 20 Memphis and No. 24 Connecticut are the other AAC schools in the poll.
The Big Ten reached five with the returns of No. 21 Wisconsin and No. 22 Ohio State. No. 9 Michigan State, No. 15 Michigan and No. 16 Iowa are the others from the Big Ten.
Wisconsin, which beat Michigan State on Sunday, had been ranked all season until falling out last week. The Badgers had reached as high as No. 3 as they opened the season 16-0. They lost five of their next seven, and the win over Michigan State snapped a three-game home losing streak.
Ohio State also came back after falling out of the poll for one week. The Buckeyes, who were No. 11 in the preseason Top 25, reached as high as No. 3 by starting the season 15-0. Last week's win over Purdue was Ohio State's third straight win after it had lost five of six.
The Big 12 had five ranked teams last week, but Oklahoma State and Oklahoma fell out this week, leaving No. 7 Kansas, No. 11 Iowa State and No. 19 Texas in the Top 25.
Oklahoma State's rough stretch continued with the Cowboys being knocked out of the Top 25.
The Cowboys' fourth straight loss was to Texas Tech on Saturday, when preseason All-America Marcus Smart shoved a fan, leading to his three-game suspension. Two weeks ago the Cowboys were ranked No. 8, the same spot they held in the preseason Top 25. Oklahoma State, which reached as high as No. 6, was ranked for the past 21 polls, the eighth-longest current streak.
Oklahoma, which lost to West Virginia last week, dropped out after being ranked the past four weeks. The Sooners reached as high as 21st.
The ACC stayed with four ranked teams: No. 1 Syracuse, No. 8 Duke, No. 17 Virginia and No. 25 Pittsburgh.
Gonzaga returned to the poll last week and fell out Monday after losing to Memphis. The Bulldogs, who were No. 15 in the preseason poll, were out for three weeks before returning last week.
There are six games between ranked teams this week, and Michigan is in two of them. On Tuesday, the Wolverines are at Ohio State, and on Sunday they host Wisconsin.
On Wednesday, Syracuse is at Pittsburgh. Memphis visits UConn and Florida is at No. 14 Kentucky on Saturday. On Sunday, Villanova visits No. 18 Creighton.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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