UNLV Slips but Still Is No. 1

Only eight of the teams in the Top 25 didn’t lose last week, and the trend continued today when UNLV lost its unanimous hold on the No. 1 spot in the college basketball poll.

The Runnin’ Rebels (15-0), who are on a 26-game winning streak, had been the choice of all the voters for the last three weeks. But Ohio State (17-0), the nation’s only other undefeated team, was tabbed in the top spot by two of the 64 voters in the nationwide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

The defending national champions remained No. 1 for the 11th straight week with 62 first-place votes and 1,598 points, 82 more than Arkansas (20-1), which held second for the eighth consecutive week, and 108 more than the Buckeyes, who had the two first-place votes and moved up one spot in the voting after beating then-No. 3 Indiana and Minnesota on the road.

Indiana, St. John’s, which jumped from 10th, Arizona, Duke, Syracuse, North Carolina and Kentucky rounded out the Top 10.

Only four teams in last week’s Top 10--UNLV, Arkansas, Ohio State and St. John’s--didn’t lose last week, and the only other ranked teams to escape without a loss were Virginia, Utah, New Mexico State and New Orleans.

THE TOP 25 The top 25 teams in the AP college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses. 1. UNLV (62) 15-0

2. Arkansas 20-1

3. Ohio State (2) 17-0

4. Indiana 18-2

5. St. John’s 15-2

6. Arizona 16-3

7. Duke 16-4

8. Syracuse 17-3

9. North Carolina 14-3

10. Kentucky 15-3

11. Nebraska 17-2

12. UCLA 15-4

13. Utah 19-1

14. LSU 13-4

15. Virginia 14-4

16. E. Tenn. State 15-2

17. Southern Miss. 12-2

18. Georgetown 12-5

19. Pittsburgh 15-5

20. N. Mexico State 15-2

21. Oklahoma 14-5

22. New Orleans 17-2

23. Georgia Tech 12-5

24. Kansas 13-4

25. Seton Hall 13-4