Oklahoma still tops; Ball State at No. 20

Oklahoma on Monday became the first No. 1 team in five weeks to hold the top spot in The Associated Press college basketball poll.

The Sooners did need some extra time, however, as they were taken to overtime before beating Kansas 94-89 last week. That and a victory over Colorado, also on the road, improved Sooners to 23-3 and earned them 61 of the 65 first-place votes from the nationwide panel of sportswriters and broadcasters and 1,296 points.

Meanwhile, two schools made their first-ever appearances in the poll.

St. Mary’s, Calif., 22-3, joined the Top Twenty at No. 19, while Ball State, 21-2, took the final spot in the rankings.

Arizona, 20-3, held second, receiving two first-place votes and 1,224 points.

Georgetown, 20-3, improved one place from last week with 1,146 points. Indiana, which beat Michigan at the buzzer in its only game last week, jumped from ninth to fourth.

The Hoosiers, 21-5, received one first-place vote and 976 points, four more than North Carolina, 22-5.

The Tar Heels, who jumped three places with two victories last week, were followed by Syracuse, which held the No. 6 spot, and Missouri, which dropped from third after losing at Iowa State last week.

Syracuse, 22-5, split two games last week, losing to Georgetown and beating Providence. The Orangemen had 934 points, four more than Missouri, 22-5.

Louisville, 18-5, and Duke, 19-4, each jumped two places from last week. The Cardinals moved to eighth with 852 points, while Duke had 810.

Illinois, fifth last week, rounded out the Top Ten after losing 72-52 at Wisconsin. The Fighting Illini, 21-4, had 696 votes, 105 more than West Virginia, which led the Second Ten and holds the nation’s current longest winning streak at 20 games.

The Mountaineers were followed by Florida State, Michigan, Iowa, Seton Hall, Stanford, North Carolina State, Nevada-Las Vegas, St. Mary’s and Ball State.

St. Mary’s is tied for first place in the West Coast Athletic Conference with Pepperdine. Only Pepperdine, Stanford and San Francisco have beaten the Gaels.

Ball State holds first place in the Mid-American Conference and both the Cardinals’ losses were in conference to Ohio University and Toledo.

Ohio State and Louisiana State both dropped from the Top Twenty.