Syracuse enters poll; Kansas drops to 21

Look who’s back in the Top 25: defending national champion Syracuse.

A defeat of then-No. 3 Pittsburgh ended the Panthers’ 40-game home winning streak and boosted Syracuse to 24th in the Associated Press men’s college basketball poll Monday.

The Orangemen (19-6) were out of the poll for three weeks, but they returned a day after beating Pittsburgh, 49-46. That result dropped Pitt to No. 6.

Kansas University dropped one spot to 21st after a loss at Texas and win over Oklahoma.

Stanford and Saint Joseph’s, Division One’s only unbeaten teams, held the top two spots for the third straight week. Duke took advantage of Pitt’s loss to jump from fifth to third, followed by Gonzaga and Mississippi State.

The Cardinal (25-0), who beat Oregon State and Oregon last week, received 67 first-place votes and 1,795 points from the national media panel to stay at No. 1.

Saint Joseph’s (26-0) defeated Massachusetts and Rhode Island and was No. 1 on five ballots — three fewer than a week ago — and had 1,722 points.

Connecticut was seventh, one spot ahead of Oklahoma State, which dropped two places after losing in double overtime at Missouri. Kentucky and Texas remained ninth and 10th.

Even though standout freshman Carmelo Anthony left for the NBA, Syracuse was ranked No. 7 in the preseason poll, coming off its first NCAA basketball championship.

The Orangemen lost their opener to Charlotte and dropped to 16th, but they stayed in the Top 25 until losing four of five in Big East play. Those losses to Seton Hall, Pittsburgh, Connecticut and Providence were all on the road.

Since that skid, though, Syracuse has won five of six games.

Texas Tech (19-9) fell out from No. 25 after a seven-week run that saw coach Bob Knight’s team get as high as No. 13 during a 12-game winning streak. Since then, however, the Red Raiders have lost seven of 10, including defeats to Nebraska and Texas last week.

At No. 12, Providence (20-5) enters tonight’s home showdown with Pittsburgh with its highest ranking in 26 years. The Friars, who have won six straight and already have won their most Big East games ever, were No. 11 on Feb. 21, 1978.

Syracuse was one of three teams in the preseason Top 10 to fall out of the poll. Preseason No. 3 Michigan State hasn’t been ranked since Dec. 15; preseason No. 4 Missouri hasn’t been ranked since Jan. 5.

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Vol women back at No. 1: Tennessee is getting another chance at No. 1. Now comes the tricky part: staying there.

The Lady Vols replaced Connecticut atop the Associated Press’ women’s basketball poll Monday after the Huskies were beaten by Villanova for the second straight year.

But keeping the top spot has been harder than getting there; this change is the fifth in the last nine weeks. The longest stint at No. 1 in that stretch was Duke’s three weeks.

Connecticut led the poll the first eight weeks of the season, but lasted only one week in its return to No. 1, dropping to fourth Monday.

Tennessee (25-2) was No. 1 for two weeks before losing to UConn on Feb. 5.

Duke received four first-place votes, No. 3 Texas had three, Connecticut got five, and No. 5 Penn State received one.

Purdue dropped to sixth after a loss Sunday at Penn State ended its 15-game winning streak. Louisiana Tech was seventh, followed by Kansas State, Texas Tech and North Carolina.