Arizona still No. 1, Illinois 4th
March 7, 1989
Arizona became the third team this season to hold the No. 1 spot for two consecutive weeks in The Associated Press college basketball poll. The Wildcats were an overwhelming choice as the top team Monday after a week that saw three of the top five teams lose a game.
The Wildcats, 24-3, received 61 first-place votes of the 66 cast by the nationwide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters and 1,315 points for their third week atop the rankings and second in a row.
No. 2 Oklahoma, fourth last week, was followed by Georgetown, which dropped one spot after losing its regular-season finale 82-76 in overtime at Syracuse. The Hoyas, 23-4, received the last first-place vote and 1,104 points, 39 more than Illinois, 25-4, which jumped from eighth to fourth with its last-second 70-67 victory over Indiana on Sunday.
Syracuse, 25-6, which lost to Boston College before beating Georgetown, moved up one place from last week with 1,013 points, 11 more than Indiana, 24-6.
Duke, 22-6, went from ninth to seventh after handing out the third top-five defeat last week, an 88-86 victory at North Carolina. The Blue Devils had 895 points and were followed in the Top Ten by Michigan, North Carolina and Missouri.
Michigan, 23-6, had 864 points, 63 more than the Tar Heels, 24-7, while Missouri, 24-7, had 740.
Seton Hall led the Second Ten with 689 points and was followed by Stanford, West Virginia, Florida State, Iowa, Louisville, North Carolina State, Nevada-Las Vegas, Ball State and St. Mary’s, Calif.