Utah State earned its first spot in the Associated Press men’s basketball poll since 1971 Monday, one of many changes in the national rankings — except at the top.

For the third straight week, the first three spots remained the same: Duke, Stanford and Saint Joseph’s.

Other Top-25 teams didn’t fare as well, with 12 of them losing a total of 14 games, giving the Aggies an opportunity to break into the rankings at No. 24.

Kansas University fell from No. 15 to 20 following Saturday’s loss at Iowa State.

Utah State (17-1) has won 14 straight games, the last nine over Big West opponents, since losing 56-45 Dec. 3 at Utah. The latest win was 84-46 Saturday over Long Beach State.

The defending Big West tournament champions have won at least 20 games each of the last four seasons and have been to the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years.

Pittsburgh jumped up three spots to No. 4, while Connecticut moved up one to fifth.

Gonzaga moved from 10th to No. 8, its highest ranking of the season. Kentucky, which lost at Vanderbilt, dropped from fifth to No. 9.