The latest edition of the Associated Press top-25 men's basketball rankings went nearly unchanged in its top 10 spots with only three teams moving up or down.
Kansas (7) and Cincinnati stayed in the top 10 but moved up one and down three, respectively. Duke (8) rose by three to replace Michigan (15), who dropped five spots, in the top 10.
Syracuse (1) was a unanimous choice to stay in the top spot and Arizona (2), Florida (3), Wichita State (4), San Diego State (5), Villanova (6) and Michigan State (9) went unchanged in their positioning.
UConn (24) managed to stay in the top 25 despite a 63-58 loss to Cincinnati, but the Huskies fell two spots. Re-entering the rankings are Wisconsin (21), Ohio State (22) and, for the first time in nearly 30 years, Southern Methodist (23). The Mustangs convincingly defeated Cincinnati 76-55 and also beat Temple 75-52.
The largest moves in the 15th week of the rankings were Creighton (18) falling six spots and Wisconsin and Iowa State (11) each moving up five. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Gonzaga will not be in the rankings this week.
After losing just two games in their first 17, Oklahoma State has dropped four in a row and five of their last six. To make matters worse, they will be without leading scorer Marcus Smart on the road against Texas (19) and Baylor and at home to face Oklahoma. The next game Smart can play is at home against Texas Tech.
After that, the Cowboys still have games to play against Kansas, the current Big 12 leader and Iowa State, a team that beat Oklahoma State 98-97 in three overtimes.
Like Ohio State and Wisconsin, Oklahoma State may soon be back in the top 25. For Southern Methodist, however, their reinsertion into the rankings has been in the works since 1984-1985 season when they were ranked as high as second overall.
