Villanova takes over No. 1 in men’s poll
Reigning national champion Villanova is No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the second time in school history.
The Wildcats (8-0), who were No. 1 for three weeks in February last season, moved up one spot from last week with 57 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel Monday.
We learned last time,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We had it, we lost it, the sun still came up the next day, we still had a lot of basketball left to play. Before we had it the first time, we thought, ‘ Wow, that would be really cool.’ And it was, it was really cool.
“But now it’s not that big of a deal.”
UCLA (9-0), which beat No. 1 Kentucky, 97-92, Saturday, jumped from 11th to second with two first-place votes. Kentucky, which dropped to sixth, had been No. 1 for the past two weeks. Duke is the other team to be No. 1 this season, for two weeks.
Villanova was playing Saturday afternoon when the Kentucky game ended. During the latter stages of their 82-57 victory over Saint Joseph’s, the Villanova students started chanting “No. 1! No. 1!” They have their wish.
Kansas moved from fourth to third and Baylor (80) jumped from ninth to No. 4 and received the other six first-place votes.
Duke held fifth and was followed by Kentucky, North Carolina, Gonzaga, Indiana and Creighton.
Louisville is 11th, followed by Saint Mary’s, Xavier, Virginia and West Virginia, which made the jump from 25th to 15th after winning at Virginia, dropping the Cavaliers from sixth to No. 14.
Cincinnati (7-1), which won at Iowa State last week, moved back into the Top 25 after being out for three weeks. Notre Dame (8-0) is the week’s other newcomer.
Connecticut
The Huskies took over the top spot in the women’s AP poll, moving ahead of Notre Dame after beating Top 25 teams DePaul and Texas last week. The Huskies (7-0) had been second in the poll behind the Irish (8-0), but climbed into first by two points. The rivals will face each other Wednesday night in South Bend, Indiana. It’s the first time since 2005 that a team lost its No. 1 ranking without losing a game. Connecticut had 18 first place votes from the 33-member national media panel; the Irish received the other 15.
North Carolina
Point guard Joel Berry II won’t play Wednesday against Davidson because of a sprained left ankle and is questionable for Sunday’s home game against Tennessee. Barry, averaging 14.8 points a game for the seventh-ranked Tar Heels, was hurt early in the second half of a win against Radford.
Eastern Kentucky
Authorities in Richmond, Ky., said Jaylen Babb-Harrison, 23, has been arrested on a rape charge. A statement from Eastern Kentucky says Babb-Harrison, a redshirt senior guard, has been suspended from the team. It said the school is cooperating with police.