Michigan State enters ranking after beating then-No. 3 Oregon

NEW YORK — A win over Oregon vaulted Michigan State into the women’s Associated Press Top 25.

The Spartans entered the poll at No. 23 on Monday, a day after upsetting the then-third ranked Ducks 88-82. Michigan State (8-1) had only three votes from the 31-member national media panel last week. It’s the first ranking for Michigan State in two years.

The win was the Spartans’ first over a top-three opponent since April 3, 2005, when they defeated No. 3 Tennessee 68-64 in the Final Four.

It’s also the team’s first regular-season win over a top-three opponent since Dec. 2, 2004, when they won at No. 3 Notre Dame, 82-73 in overtime.

The Ducks fell to seventh after suffering their first loss of the season.

There wasn’t much other movement in the poll with many teams starting their exam breaks. UConn and Notre Dame remain No. 1 and 2. Baylor, Louisville and Mississippi State round out the first five teams in the poll.

Drake fell out of the Top 25 after losing at South Dakota State.

Rough stretch for Ducks

The NCAA announced that Oregon violated rules related to both basketball teams and the track and field program and put the school on probation for two years.

The decision issued last Wednesday said women’s basketball coach Kelly Graves failed to “monitor and promote an atmosphere of compliance in his program.” He must serve a two-game suspension this season.

“I regret that some members of my staff made errors of judgment, and I have taken actions to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Graves said in a released statement.