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| Wednesday, February 23 | |||||
ARLINGTON, Virginia -- Stanford took advantage of a loss by Cincinnati and took over the top spot in the latest ESPN/USA Today coaches' basketball poll, released Sunday night.
One day after Stanford (22-1) posted a 101-50 rout of California, Cincinnati (24-2) had its 42-game home winning streak snapped this afternoon with a 77-79 loss to No. 12 Temple. The Cardinal moved from second to first in the newest poll, receiving 28 of 31 first-place votes and 772 points from a panel of 31 coaches. The Bearcats got the other three first-place votes but dropped to third with 724 points, six fewer than Duke (21-3). The Blue Devils are up from third after a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference wins. Arizona (23-4) and Michigan State (20-6) remained fourth and fifth with 669 and 624 votes, respectively. The Spartans recorded a 83-72 victory over Big Ten Conference rival Ohio State on Tuesday. The Buckeyes (18-5) still rose a spot, thanks to Saturday's 82-71 win at Indiana. Rounding out the top 10 are Tennessee (21-4), Auburn (21-4), which is up three slots, Oklahoma State (21-3) and Florida (20-5). Syracuse (21-3) continued its mini-slide and fell to 11th after Saturday's 76-75 loss to Big East Conference rival St. John's. The Orangemen have lost three of their last five games after a 19-0 start. Temple (20-4) is up three spots to 12th after Sunday's impressive victory. Tulsa (25-2), which has the most wins of any team in the poll, Indiana (18-5) and Texas (19-6) finish the top 15. A pair of Southeastern Conference schools -- Kentucky (19-7) and Louisiana State (21-4) -- start the next five and are followed by No. 18 Iowa State (22-4), Maryland (19-7) and Oklahoma (20-5). Defending national champion Connecticut (18-7) is 21st, with Vanderbilt (17-6), Kansas (19-7), Utah (19-5) and newcomer Purdue (19-7) rounding out the top 25. Seton Hall made its first appearance in the poll in seven years a short one, lasting just a week. The Pirates lost Big East games to Connecticut and unranked Notre Dame. | ALSO SEE ESPN/USA Today poll Stanford moves back into AP's No. 1 slot |