Alabama men rise to No. 1 spot in AP poll
Alabama is the new No. 1, rising to the top spot in The Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll for the first time in 20 years.
Purdue's loss to unranked Northwestern on Sunday caused a jumble at the top of the AP Top 25 and that helped the Crimson Tide.
Alabama received 38 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel Monday, moving up two spots to leapfrog Houston, which had 22 first-place votes to remain at No. 2. Purdue, down to No. 3, still had two first-place votes.
UCLA (21-4) moved up three spots to No. 4 after a road sweep of the Oregon schools. Kansas rounded out the top five.
Alabama is No. 1 for the first time since spending two weeks atop the poll midway through the 200203 season. The Crimson Tide (22-3, 12-0 SEC) beat Auburn and Florida last week, with their only loss since mid-December coming at Oklahoma in a nonconference game on Jan. 28.
Purdue managed to remain at No. 1 last week despite losing to No. 14 Indiana. The Boilermakers weren't so fortunate after losing Sunday. TEXAS TECH 74, NO. 6 TEXAS 67 >> De'vion Harmon scored 25 points and Kevin Obanor had 19 as the host Red Raiders beat their second ranked opponent in three days by upending the Longhorns.
Texas Tech (14-12, 3-10 Big 12) also topped No. 12 Kansas State on Saturday.
Texas (20-6, 9-4), which was led by Marcus Carr's 23 points, tied the game at 64 on a 3-pointer by Dylan
Disu, but Tech responded by scoring the next six points. NO. 9 BAYLOR 79, WEST VIRGINIA 65 >> LJ Cryer scored 26 points and the host Bears rallied to beat the Mountaineers (15-11, 4-9 Big 12).
Cryer was 8 for 11 from 3-point range to lead Baylor (20-6, 9-4 Big 12), which has won four straight games and 10 of its last 11 after an 0-3 conference start. NO. 15 MIAMI 80, NORTH CAROLINA 72 >> Jordan Miller had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the visiting Hurricanes beat the Tar Heels.
Nijel Pack added 23 points for Miami (21-5, 12-4 ACC).
R.J. Davis scored 23 points for UNC (16-10, 8-7).
Women
South Carolina earned the No. 1 ranking in The AP Top 25 women's poll for the 34th consecutive week.
The Gamecocks (25-0), who were again a unanimous choice from the 28-member national media panel, routed then-No. 3 LSU on Sunday in a showdown of unbeaten teams. The Tigers fell to fifth.
Indiana, Stanford and Utah were behind South Carolina. It's the best ranking in school history for the Utes, who moved up three places this week.
UCLA (20-6) moved up two spots to No. 16. USC (19-6) cracked the Top 25 at No. 25. NO. 2 INDIANA 83, NO. 13
OHIO STATE 59 >> Mackenzie Holmes had 33 points, Sara Scalia scored 24 and made six 3 pointers, and the Hoosiers (24-1, 14-1 Big Ten) extended their winning streak to 12 games with a road victory over the Buckeyes (21-5, 10-5), who shot 46% from the field and 20% from 3-point distance.