The Associated Press top 25 basketball ballot of Kevin Dunleavy of The Washington Examiner.
1. Duke (14-0)
Toughest ACC test Saturday at N.C. State?
2. Louisville (13-1)
Behanan (6-6, 250) and Blackshear (6-5, 230) would make a nice outside linebacker duo.
3. Michigan (15-0)
Impressive kick off to Big Ten schedule with 28-point romps at Northwestern and over Iowa.
4. Arizona (14-0)
Wildcats pulled off their best Houdini act yet against Colorado.
5. Kansas (12-1)
Of Withey’s nine blocks against Temple, six resulted in possession for Jayhawks.
6. Indiana (13-1)
Zeller’s numbers (16.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 1.3 bpg) not much different from last year.
7. Syracuse (14-1)
Length still a huge plus for Orange. All nine rotation players are between 6-4 and 6-10.
8. Missouri (11-2)
In 66-64 win over Bucknell, lost a rebounding battle for the first time this year.
9. Florida (10-2)
Four of first six in SEC will be road tests.
10. Illinois (13-2)
Tough week with Minnesota (WED) and at Wisconsin (SAT).
11. Gonzaga (15-1)
Great week on the road with wins at Oklahoma State, Pepperdine, and Santa Clara.
12. Minnesota (14-1)
Next three against teams in my top 10 – @Illinois (WED), @Indiana (SAT), vs. Michigan (Jan. 17).
13. Butler (12-2)
Tough way to start play in A-10 – at St. Joe’s (WED) and at Dayton (SAT).
14. San Diego State (12-2)
Six of the nine teams in Mountain West have no more than two losses. League is 89-26 overall heading into conference play.
15. Creighton (14-1)
After doormat Drake on TUE, face tough stretch – four of five Missouri Valley games on the road.
16. Notre Dame (13-1)
Big Monday for Notre Dame – at Cincinnati in hoops, against Bama in football.
17. Michigan St. (12-3)
Freshman Harris was 6-8 from arc in romp over Purdue.
18. Ohio State (11-3)
Shot 33 percent overall, 21 percent from arc in humbling loss at Illinois.
19. Kansas State (12-2)
McGruder (28 points) was 5 of 5 from arc in win over Oklahoma State.
20. Wichita State (14-1)
Quality wins at VCU, at Bradley, DePaul, Iowa.
21. VCU (12-3)
Rams have won nine straight entering A-10 play, Wednesday against Dayton (10-4).
22. N.C. State (12-2)
Leads nation in field goal shooting (53.1 percent).
23. Georgetown (10-2)
Rusty at Marquette (49-48 loss) after 13 days off.
24. Wyoming (13-0)
This may be a one-and-done ranking as Cowboys open play in tough Mountain West on WED.
25. Maryland (13-1)
Terps have few quality wins, but numbers tough to ignore, such as No. 9 in FG shooting (50.4 percent), No. 3 in FG defense (35.2 percent)
Next five
∙ New Mexico (13-2)
∙ Cincinnati (12-2)
∙ Kentucky (9-4)
∙ Marquette (11-3)
∙ Oregon (12-2)
