THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

*--* Rk School (Rec.) Comment 1 DUKE (10-0) Freshman J.J. Redick leads the Blue Devils in scoring 2 PITTSBURGH (11-1) Panthers solidified spot with victory over Notre Dame 3 ARIZONA (9-1) Make that grade a U of A+ against Oregon 4 ALABAMA (11-1) Early SEC showdown with Mississippi State is Wednesday 5 ILLINOIS (11-1) Brian Cook is Big Ten’s leading scorer at 20.8 points a game 6 OKLAHOMA (9-2) Beat Michigan State and UConn in a four-day stretch 7 NOTRE DAME (12-2) Pitt staked early claim to Big East against Irish 8 CONNECTICUT (9-1) Came back from early blowout to make Oklahoma loss respectable 9 MISSISSIPPI ST. (10-2) Slipped a bit with loss to Florida 10 TEXAS (9-2) Caution: Longhorns have shot 38% or less in last three games 11 OREGON (10-2) Bay Area trip this week is no cinch 12 INDIANA (11-2) At 19 points a game, Bracey Wright isn’t only a standout among freshmen 13 FLORIDA (12-2) Gators regained some bite against Mississippi State 14 WAKE FOREST (10-0) Last unbeatens -- Wake and Duke -- face off Sunday 15 MISSOURI (9-1) Only loss is against Illinois 16 KANSAS (10-3) Wayne Simien’s shoulder injury is a setback 17 GEORGIA (9-3) With full roster, Harrick’s team looking dangerous 18 LOUISVILLE (9-1) Rick Pitino might have something going with Cardinals 19 MARYLAND (8-3) First clash with Duke is Jan. 18 20 MICHIGAN ST. (8-4) Losses adding up, and Toledo was a bad one 21 KENTUCKY (10-3) Looks like another season of sweating for Tubby Smith 22 TEXAS TECH (10-1) Knight should earn victory No. 800 by end of month 23 XAVIER (9-4) Injury to point guard Lionel Chalmers will set Xavier back a while 24 CREIGHTON (12-1) Good team, but better win Missouri Valley Conference to be safe 25 MARQUETTE (9-3) Consecutive losses to East Carolina, Dayton still stinging

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