UConn Women #1 in Poll for Record 38th Week

By DOUG FEINBERG, AP Basketball Writer

Nebraska keeps winning and climbing up the Top 25.

The unbeaten Cornhuskers (21-0) moved past Notre Dame to No. 3 on Monday in The Associated Press women's basketball poll. Nebraska trailed the Irish in the poll by 27 points last week, but were buoyed by victories over then-No. 10 Oklahoma State and 12th-ranked Texas A&M to move two points in front.

``They are still undefeated and are beating some pretty good teams,'' said voter Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, who had Nebraska No. 2 on his ballot this week. ``They've played a lot of teams that have been ranked in the top 10 and beat them all. They haven't really had a close game.''

Sounds like a familiar scenario to UConn, which remained No. 1 for a record 38th straight week. The Huskies (23-0) routed West Virginia and Louisville this week. Connecticut has won 62 straight games, all by double digits.

Stanford remained second with Notre Dame falling to fourth _despite winning twice this past week _ and Tennessee fifth.

While there wasn't much surprise at UConn's continued success, the Cornhuskers didn't even start the season ranked and didn't crack the Top 25 until the fourth week of the season. Before this run, Nebraska's highest ranking had been 12th in 1997.

Nebraska, which will visit Kansas on Wednesday and Missouri on Saturday, has won most of its games by double digits with Miami being the only team to come within five points.

The Hurricanes knocked off North Carolina this week, dropping the Tar Heels nine spots to 18th. North Carolina, which also lost to then-No. 15 Florida State, hasn't been this low in the rankings since being No. 19 on Feb. 25, 2002.

Things don't get any easier for North Carolina, which plays No. 8 Duke on Monday night. The Blue Devils fell two spots after losing at Boston College. Xavier and Ohio State moved up to sixth and seventh. Despite a 33-point loss to UConn, West Virginia moved up to ninth _ its best ranking ever. Florida State jumped up five places to 10th.

Baylor climbed four spots to No. 11, starting a run of five straight Big 12 teams. The Bears were followed by Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Texas, and Oklahoma State.

Georgetown moved up two places to 16th. The Hoyas were followed by Kentucky, which is in second in the Southeastern Conference. The Tar Heels were next followed by Georgia and Iowa State _ the seventh Big 12 team in the poll.

Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, LSU, TCU, and St. John's rounded out the poll. After falling out a week earlier, TCU re-entered the Top 25. Wisconsin-Green Bay was the lone team to exit the poll.

     (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Women's Top Twenty Five, By The Associated Press

The top 25 teams in the The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 7, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
                       Record   Pts Pvs
   1. Connecticut (40)      23-0 1,000   1
   2. Stanford              21-1    959   2
   3. Nebraska              21-0    896   4
   4. Notre Dame            21-1    894   3
   5. Tennessee             20-2    850   5
   6. Xavier                18-3    775   7
   7. Ohio St.              23-3    740   8
   8. Duke                  18-4    709   6
   9. West Virginia         21-3    627 11
10. Florida St.           20-4    593 15
11. Baylor                17-5    537 15
12. Oklahoma              16-6    511 13
13. Texas A&M             16-5    510 12
14. Texas                 16-6    475 17
15. Oklahoma St.          18-5    436 10
16. Georgetown            19-3    402 18
17. Kentucky              20-3    372 20
18. North Carolina        16-5    358   9
19. Georgia               19-5    323 14
20. Iowa St.              18-4    210 22
21. Georgia Tech          19-5    205 21
22. Gonzaga               19-4    118 24
23. LSU                   15-7     93 19
24. TCU                   17-5     70   _
25. St. John's            19-4     68 25
     Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 64, Hartford 60, Virginia 56, Wis.-Green Bay 29, Mississippi 12, Michigan St. 11, Miami 10, South Carolina 6, Princeton 5, Penn St. 4, Dayton 3, Middle Tennessee 3, East Carolina 2, Marist 2, Fresno St. 1, Syracuse 1.
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