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Illinois Moves Up in Latest Polls

No. 12 Illinois moved up seven spots following a five-point win over Iowa in the latest AP Top 25 College Basketball poll. Iowa dropped three spots to No. 8. Ayo Dosunmu scored 25 points, Trent Frazier had 24 and No. 19 Illinois upset No. 7 Iowa 80-75 on Friday night. Illinois travels to Indiana tonight.

 

Gonzaga and Baylor remained atop the poll for the 11th straight week.

 

The Zags (17-0, 8-0 West Coast) received 61 first-place votes from a media panel to hold at No. 1 after routing San Diego and Pepperdine last week. The Bears (16-0, 8-0 Big 12) received the other three first-place votes following wins over Kansas State and Auburn.

 

Villanova and Michigan remained at Nos. 3 and 4, with Houston rounding out the top five. The Cougars have their highest ranking since the Phi Slama Jama team reached No. 2 in 1983-84.

 

With a win over then-No. 9 Alabama on Saturday, Oklahoma became just the second team in 25 years to beat three straight top-10 opponents. Oklahoma also is the first team since 1974 to beat four top-10 teams in the same month.

 

The Sooners’ run led to a big jump in this week’s Associated Press men’s basketball poll. Oklahoma moved up 15 spots to No. 9 in the Top 25 released Monday, its highest ranking since reaching No. 4 in 2017-18.

 

Coming off three wins last week, Drake was ranked for the first time since 2007-08 in this week’s poll at No. 25.

 

 

 

The top 10 of the latest college basketball Coaches Poll on Monday has a new look, with both Ohio State and Tennessee joining the mix after big weeks. The Buckeyes' jump to No. 9 is their highest ranking on the season while the Vols' jump to No. 10 is four spots shy of tying a season-high in the poll.

 

It wasn't long ago that both Ohio State and Tennessee had hit snags in their respective seasons. OSU had a stretch where it lost three of seven in a span that included losses to two unranked foes, and Tennessee lost big to Florida and followed it up with a home loss to Mizzou earlier this month. But both teams rallied to reach top-10 status, OSU on the strength of three consecutive Big Ten wins and Tennessee after a rout of Kansas on Saturday in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

 

Illinois jumped nine spots to No. 13 after their big win over Iowa Friday night. The Hawkeyes drop one spot from No. 7 to No. 8. 

 

As for the top of the poll, the status quo is still being kept with Gonzaga, Baylor and Villanova all occupying the top three spots. Gonzaga got one fewer first-place vote this week than last week, which benefitted No. 2 Baylor, but the Zags are still the overwhelming No. 1 after raking in 28 first-place votes of a possible 32.

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