The Sidelines : UNLV Tops Poll for 12th Straight Week; Arkansas Drops to Third

Having disposed of the latest pretender to the throne, UNLV again was a unanimous choice today as the top team in the Associated Press college basketball poll.

The Runnin’ Rebels, who whipped Arkansas, last week’s runner-up, 112-105 on Sunday to improve their record to 20-0, were picked No. 1 by all 63 votes in the nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters. It’s the 12th straight week that UNLV has been No. 1 and the fourth time in the last five weeks that the selection was unanimous.

Ohio State (19-1), which blasted Northwestern in its only game last week, climbed over Arkansas into the No. 2 spot. Arkansas (23-2) dropped back to third place, followed by Indiana (22-2) and Duke (21-4), which climbed from sixth to fifth after whipping two top-25 teams, Virginia and Louisiana State, as well as Maryland.

Arizona (19-4), which lost to USC before Sunday’s 105-94 victory at UCLA, dropped from fifth to sixth. The Bruins, (17-6) are ranked 15th this week.

Kansas, which knocked off a pair of ranked opponents last week, made the biggest move, climbing from 18th to 11th.

Virginia (11th last week), Kentucky (10th) and St. John’s (8th) had the biggest drops from the previous poll.

THE TOP 25 The top 25 teams in the AP poll; first-place votes in parentheses. 1. UNLV (63) 20-0

2. Ohio State 19-1

3. Arkansas 23-2

4. Indiana 22-2

5. Duke 21-4

6. Arizona 19-4

7. Syracuse 20-3

8. N. Carolina 17-4

9. Southern Miss. 17-2

10. E. Tenn. State 21-2

11. Kansas 17-4

12. N. Mexico State 17-2

13. St. John’s 16-5

14. Utah 22-2

15. UCLA 17-6

16. Kentucky 17-5

17. Nebraska 19-4

18. Georgetown 15-6

19. Virginia 17-7

20. LSU 15-7

21. Oklahoma State 16-5

22. Pittsburgh 17-7

23. Mississippi St. 15-6

24. Texas 16-5

25. Princeton 16-2