Illinois remains entrenched at No. 1

Illinois is No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll for an eighth consecutive week, earning all but one first-place vote. That ballot was cast for the new No. 2 team: Duke.

The Blue Devils (15-0) moved up two spots to second, replacing Kansas (14-1), which dropped to sixth following its 83-62 loss at Villanova on Saturday. The Jayhawks fell below No. 2 for the first time this season.

The Illini (19-0) received all but one of the 72 first-place votes from the national media panel Monday. The last unanimous No. 1 was Duke, which did it nine times in a 10-week span in 2001-02.

The Blue Devils have reached No. 1 for seven straight seasons. Should Duke unseat Illinois and extend that streak to eight, it would still be four behind UCLA's record that started in 1963. Duke received 1,704 points, 95 behind Illinois and 130 more than North Carolina, which jumped from sixth to third.

Utah (16-3) was the lone newcomer to the poll this week, moving in at No. 25 and replacing Marquette, which lost two games last week.

Illinois, which beat Iowa at home in overtime in its only game last week, will play at No. 18 Wisconsin on Tuesday night. The Badgers (13-3) have the nation's longest home winning streak at 38 games. That is one of six games involving two ranked teams this week.

Syracuse moved from seventh to fourth, one spot in front of Wake Forest, which fell two places following its overtime loss at Florida State.

Kansas was No. 1 in the preseason poll and the first Top 25 of the regular season, then was No. 2 for nine straight weeks.

Kentucky was seventh, while Boston College (16-0), the only other unbeaten in Division I beside Illinois and Duke, was eighth, up one place from last week.

Oklahoma State, which lost at Texas early last week, dropped four spots to No. 9. Washington was 10th for the second straight week, the Huskies' first appearances in the Top Ten since December 1984.

Arizona led the second 10 and was followed by Louisville, Oklahoma, Alabama, Michigan State, Texas, Gonzaga, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Pittsburgh.

The last five ranked teams were Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Iowa, Mississippi State and Utah.

Utah (16-3) was last ranked for two weeks in 2002-03. The Utes, playing under first-year coach Ray Giacoletti, have won 11 straight since losing at Arizona on Dec. 11. The other losses were to Washington and Utah State, both on the road.

Marquette (14-4), which was ranked for two weeks, lost Conference USA games to DePaul and Charlotte last week.

Oklahoma's win over Texas last week was its second against a ranked team in as many weeks (Connecticut) and continued the Sooners' three-week rise from their entrance at 25th to No. 18 to this week's 13th.

Alabama, which beat Mississippi State 98-49 and Mississippi 66-58, had the week's biggest jump, moving from 22nd to No. 14.

The biggest drop was Georgia Tech falling from 12th to No. 22. The Yellow Jackets (11-5) lost 70-69 at home to Virginia Tech in its only game last week, their third straight loss.

In addition to Illinois-Wisconsin, the other double-ranked games this week are: Oklahoma State at Oklahoma on Monday; Wake Forest at Georgia Tech and Washington at Arizona on Thursday; and Syracuse at Pittsburgh and Texas at Kansas on Saturday.