Miami of Ohio Cracks Top 25

Duke, Connecticut, Stanford and Kentucky remained the top four teams in the Associated Press men’s poll, and two teams--St. John’s and Miami of Ohio--made their first top-25 appearances in quite a while.

St. John’s, which beat then-No. 23 Massachusetts last week, is ranked 23rd, its first time in the top 25 since a one-week stay in December 1994. Miami of Ohio, which beat then-No. 18 Tennessee last week, is at No. 24, the first time the RedHawks have been ranked since the final poll of the 1977-78 season.

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Connecticut took its 100-plus scoring average to the top of the Associated Press women’s basketball poll, becoming the third team in as many weeks to be ranked No. 1.

The Connecticut moved up from No. 2 to replace Purdue, which was beaten 73-72, by unranked Stanford Sunday. Purdue assumed its first-ever No. 1 ranking last week after beating Tennessee, which had been the top-ranked team in the preseason poll.

It’s the first time since the women’s poll started in the 1976-77 season that three schools have been No. 1 in consecutive weeks. Purdue became the fourth No. 1 team to lose to an unranked opponent.

UCLA is No. 12.