Kansas and top 3 remain the same in AP Top 25 while 4 newcomers join the rankings

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Top 3 stay the same, 4 newcomers in AP Top 25

Kansas, Texas and Villanova held the top three spots in The Associated Press college basketball poll for the second straight week Monday. For the third consecutive week at least three teams moved into the Top 25.

The Jayhawks (7-0), who beat Alcorn State and UCLA last week, were again a runaway choice at No. 1, receiving all but three first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel.

Texas (6-0), which beat Southern California in its only game last week, and Villanova (8-0), which beat Drexel and Maryland, both received one first-place vote.

Kentucky (8-0), which beat then-No. 10 North Carolina on Saturday, was fourth, switching places with Purdue (7-0). The Boilermakers beat Wake Forest and Buffalo last week.

West Virginia, Syracuse, which got the other No. 1 vote, Duke, Tennessee and Florida rounded out the top 10.

Wisconsin, which moved in at No. 20, and No. 23 Texas Tech, No. 24 Georgia Tech and No. 25 Mississippi moved into the rankings this week. They replaced Clemson, Louisville, Florida State and Portland.

Last week a record-tying seven teams moved into the poll and Florida State and Portland were the only ones to drop out.

North Carolina fell one spot to 11th and was followed by Michigan State, Ohio State, Connecticut, Georgetown, Texas A&M, Washington, UNLV, Cincinnati and Wisconsin.

Gonzaga was No. 21 and Butler was No. 22.

Wisconsin (6-1) were ranked for the first three polls of 2008-09. The Badgers, whose only loss was to Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational, moved in following a 73-69 victory over Duke in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

This is Texas Tech’s first appearance in the poll since the final Top 25 of 2004-05. The Red Raiders (8-0) beat Washington 99-92 in overtime last week.

Georgia Tech (6-1) returns after a two-week absence. The Yellow Jackets have won five straight since a 63-59 loss to Dayton in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Mississippi has won three straight since losing 79-67 to Villanova in the championship game of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. The Rebels (7-1) were ranked for six weeks during the 2007-08 season.

Clemson, which blew a 23-point second-half lead in a 76-74 home loss to Illinois last week, was the highest-ranked of the teams to fall out of the poll, dropping from 18th. The Tigers (7-2) had been ranked in the last 14 polls.

Louisville (5-2) dropped out from 20th after an 87-65 loss to Charlotte, the worst home loss for the Cardinals since Rick Pitino became their coach in 2001. Louisville, which played without three injured guards, had been ranked in 29 consecutive polls since Feb. 12, 2008.

Florida State (7-2) moved in last week at No. 21 then lost 77-64 at Ohio State.

Portland cracked the poll last week for the first time since February 1959. The celebration of the five-decade wait was short-lived as the Pilots (5-3) lost 86-82 to Portland State and 68-48 to Idaho.

There are five games between ranked teams this week and four are at neutral sites.

Butler plays Georgetown in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday and Kentucky and Connecticut meet in the Big East/SEC Invitational the next night on the same Madison Square Garden court.

Syracuse and Florida meet in Tampa in another Big East-SEC matchup on Thursday.

On Saturday, Ohio State visits Butler and Georgetown plays its first game in California since 2001 when it faces Washington in the Wooden Classic in Anaheim.