Kentucky still unanimous No. 1
Kentucky leaves no doubt about its standing atop the Associated Press Top 25 poll as the Wildcats (12-0) are the unanimous No. 1 for the third week in a row.
Next up, however, is a showdown against rival Louisville (10-0). The Cardinals, who remained at No. 4 in the new rankings Monday, will host Kentucky at 2 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN2.
Louisville is averaging 77.0 points per game this season -- just ahead of Kentucky (76.8) -- and is second in the nation with 45.7 rebounds per game.
The two teams have played annually since rekindling their rivalry with an NCAA tournament meeting in 1983.
Two days after Kentucky's 83-44 romp over UCLA, the Wildcats again garnered all 65 first-place votes in Monday's rankings. The Wildcats scored the game's first 24 points and led 41-7 at halftime in a matchup of the two teams with the most NCAA championships.
Duke (10-0) stayed second, followed by Arizona (12-0) and Louisville. The only change in the top 10 was Virginia (11-0) moving up to fifth and swapping spots with Wisconsin (10-1), the only Top 25 team that was idle last week.
Villanova (11-0), Gonzaga (11-1), Texas (10-1) and Kansas (9-1) rounded out the top 10.
Notre Dame (11-1), which beat Purdue 94-63 in its only game last week, made the biggest upward move, five spots to 16th.
No. 22 Baylor (9-1), a Sweet 16 team last season, is the highest-ranked of four Top 25 newcomers. TCU (11-0), another Big 12 team, debuted at No. 25, its first poll appearance since January 1999.
TCU, which went 0-18 in Big 12 games last season, is off to the best start in school history.
With the addition of the Bears and Horned Frogs, there are now seven ranked teams from the Big 12, which is tops among all conferences. Iowa State (No. 12), West Virginia (18th) and Oklahoma (19th) are also ranked.
The ACC is next with five teams.
Northern Iowa (10-1) returned to the poll at No. 23, ahead of Colorado State (11-0).
Falling out were Miami, San Diego State, Butler and Michigan State.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
