College basketball has yet another new No. 1
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If you don’t like the No.1 team in college basketball -- and this week it’s Jim Calhoun’s Connecticut Huskies -- just wait a few hours.
Connecticut today became the fifth top-ranked team of the season in the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today coaches’ polls.
And, and get this, it could be one of the shortest reigns in history -- king for less than a day?
Connecticut plays the AP’s No. 5 team Louisville tonight in a clash of Big East titans.
Connecticut replaced Duke, a loser at Wake Forest Wednesday, as this week’s No.1 in both rankings. North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest also have served time at the top this year.
If Louisville defeats Connecticut tonight, Oklahoma would be in position to become the sixth No.1 when next week’s polls are published.
This week’s AP top five: Connecticut, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Duke and Louisville. The coaches’ have it: Connecticut, Oklahoma, Duke, North Carolina and Pittsburgh.
UCLA, thanks to wipeout wins against California and Stanford, moved up four spots to No. 12 in the coaches’ poll, and moved up two positions to No. 15 in the AP. This week, the Bruins will face rival USC on Wednesday and Notre Dame on Saturday.
Notre Dame, considered a possible Final Four team by some, dropped out of the coaches’ poll after Saturday’s loss at Pittsburgh. It was Notre Dame’s fifth straight Big East loss. The Irish dropped out of the AP poll last week.
Arizona State dropped from No. 14 to No. 24 in the AP after getting swept at home by the Washington schools. Washington, at No. 22 in the AP and No. 25 in the coaches’ poll, is the only other Pacific 10 team (other than UCLA) in both rankings.
-- Chris Dufresne
