Arizona (9-0) was a runaway choice at No. 1, receiving 63 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel Monday. The Wildcats were sixth in the preseason Top 25, and their 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 three weeks, dropped to fifth after losing 79-65 at home to North Carolina.
Louisville was No. 6, followed by Oklahoma State, Duke, Connecticut and Villanova.
North Carolina moved back into the poll at No. 18 after a one-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.
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 8, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking: Record Pts Prv
1. Arizona (63) 9-0 1,623 2 2. Syracuse (2) 9-0 1,522 4 3. Ohio St. 8-0 1,453 5 4. Wisconsin 10-0 1,318 8 5. Michigan St. 7-1 1,311 1 6. Louisville 8-1 1,262 7 7. Oklahoma St. 8-1 1,160 9 8. Duke 7-2 1,040 10 9. UConn 9-0 981 12 10. Villanova 9-0 938 14 11. Kentucky 7-2 926 3 12. Wichita St. 9-0 884 11 13. Kansas 6-2 862 6 14. Baylor 8-1 843 20 15. Oregon 8-0 831 13 16. Memphis 6-1 768 16 17. Iowa St. 7-0 606 17 18. North Carolina 6-2 450 — 19. Florida 6-2 434 15 20. Gonzaga 8-1 365 19 21. Colorado 9-1 330 — 22. UMass 8-0 326 21 23. Iowa 9-1 207 23 24. Missouri 9-0 203 — 25. San Diego St. 7-1 159 24
Others receiving votes: UCLA 104, New Mexico 62, Pittsburgh 47, Boise St. 34, Michigan 26, VCU 17, Dayton 11, Cincinnati 5, Harvard 5, Indiana 3, Saint Mary's (Cal) 3, Creighton 2, George Washington 2, Oklahoma 1, Toledo 1.
