Villanova ranked 10th
Villanova is 10th in the weekly basketball rankings. Arizona is No. 1 for the first time since 2003.
IT WAS a big week in the Associated Press basketball poll for Wildcats.
Villanova and Arizona.
Villanova (9-0), which last week made the Top 25 for the first time since February 2011, moved up from 14th to 10th in the weekly poll after victories over Penn and Saint Joseph's.
Meanwhile, Arizona moved up one spot to No. 1, its first top ranking since 2003.
Arizona (9-0) was a runaway choice at No. 1, receiving 63 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel yesterday. Arizona was sixth in the preseason Top 25, and its climb has been highlighted by wins over San Diego State and Duke.
Syracuse, which got the other first-place votes, and Ohio State moved up two places to second and third, while Wisconsin jumped four spots to fourth. Michigan State, which had been No. 1 for 3 weeks, dropped to fifth after losing at home to North Carolina, 79-65.
Louisville was No. 6, followed by Oklahoma State, Duke, Connecticut and Villanova.
North Carolina moved back into the poll at No. 18 after a 1-week absence. Colorado and Missouri are in the Top 25 for the first time this season. UCLA, Michigan and Dayton fell out of the rankings.
In a Top 25 game
* At Iowa, Gabe Olaseni tied a career high with 14 points and had 10 rebounds as No. 23 Iowa blew past Fairleigh Dickinson, 92-59.
Melsahn Basabe had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Hawkeyes (10-1), who broke the game open with an early 19-0 run and led by at least 20 points for the entire second half.
Iowa outrebounded the Knights, 54-32, including 30-13 in the first half, and cracked the 90-point plateau for the fourth time this season.