THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

COLLEGE BASKETBALL RANKINGS ANDCOMMENTS:

*--* Rank Team (Record) Comment 1 PITTSBURGH (8-0) Big New Year’s Eve date with Georgia 2 DUKE (6-0) Coaches made Duke No. 1 out of old habit 3 ILLINOIS (8-0) Thorough victories over North Carolina, Missouri moved up the Illini 4 ARIZONA (5-1) Will ascend again with Luke Walton’s return 5 ALABAMA (9-0) Crimson Tide is No. 1 in AP voters’ eyes 6 NOTRE DAME (10-1) Irish thought spot in top six might put them in a BCS bowl 7 OKLAHOMA (6-1) Sooners have lost only to Alabama 8 CONNECTICUT (7-0) Ben Gordon has 29 points or more in three of last four 9 MARQUETTE (7-1) Dwyane Wade, a guard, shooting 60% from field 10 OREGON (8-1) Ducks need to find their “D” or trouble looms 11 MISSISSIPPI STATE (7-1) Clash against Oklahoma on Saturday 12 MICHIGAN STATE (7-2) Chance to move up against Oklahoma on Jan. 4 13 KENTUCKY (5-2) Bluegrass State showdown with Louisville coming up 14 INDIANA (7-1) Guess Mike Davis learned something from Bob Knight after all 15 KANSAS (6-3) Jayhawk bench -- the biggest question mark -- is making progress 16 TEXAS (7-2) Longhorns took early holiday in close call vs. Princeton 17 NORTH CAROLINA (7-2) Pulled away impressively in second half vs. Florida State 18 CREIGHTON (9-0) Mid-major darlings handled Nebraska. Xavier could be next 19 FLORIDA (8-2) Needed overtime against Miami, a rally to beat Charleston Southern 20 MARYLAND (5-3) Slow start nothing new, but Terps might not have same finishing speed 21 TULSA (7-1) Norman isn’t the only home of good basketball in Oklahoma 22 XAVIER (7-2) Romain Sato shows this team isn’t all David West 23 LOUISIANA STATE (7-1) Beating No. 1 earns Tigers a stripe--and a spot in rankings 24 WAKE FOREST (6-0) Josh Howard and Demon Deacons are ACC’s quiet threat 25 BUTLER (8-0) One of 11 remaining unbeaten teams

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