Buckeyes take top spot for first time since '62

Duke women remain at No. 1, but the vote was no longer unanimous.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ohio State took over the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press college basketball poll Monday, the first time the Buckeyes have held the top ranking since 1962 when they were led by Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek and on a run of three straight Final Fours.
Led by freshmen Greg Oden and Mike Conley Jr., Ohio State advanced one day after beating Wisconsin in a meeting of Nos. 1 and 2.
"You hate there had to be a team that lost that game," Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said Monday, referring to his team's 49-48 victory that clinched a second straight Big Ten title. "Fortunately for us we made the bucket at the end and came away on top."
Ohio State (26-3) moved up one spot in the rankings, receiving 62 first-place votes and 1,786 points from the 72-member national media panel. It is the Buckeyes' first time as No. 1 in the AP rankings since the final poll of the 1961-62 season.
Ohio State was ranked No. 1 for all of 1960-61 and 1961-62, a run of 27 straight polls. The Buckeyes won the national championship in 1960 and lost the title game to Cincinnati in 1961 and 1962.
"I think in our situation it's more for the people outside our program to focus on," Matta said. "Our focus, as I said to the team right after the game, is we have to do what got us to this position and that's a day-by-day approach to find ways to improve individually and our whole system as we play. It's odd to win a second championship and still have to play another game and then the conference tournament. It's a big challenge for our guys to go out and find ways to get better."
The Buckeyes finish the regular season at Michigan Saturday, and Matta welcomes a break of almost a a week.
"We need the time off since we've been beat up and have been hit by the flu bug," Matta said, adding Ron Lewis and Jamar Butler were bothered by the flu in recent days. "We can take time to get guys back on the right track."
Women's poll
Duke led the AP women's basketball poll for the seventh straight week Monday, though the Blue Devils lost a first-place vote, while North Carolina State joined at No. 24, the latest accomplishment for a team inspired by coach Kay Yow's battle with cancer.
The Blue Devils (29-0) received 49 of 50 first-place votes from a national media panel after defeating fourth-ranked North Carolina for the second time in three weeks and becoming the first Atlantic Coast Conference team to go unbeaten in the regular season.
Duke's 1,249 points in the voting were 49 more than No. 2 Tennessee, which received the other first-place vote.
North Carolina State earned its first national ranking in more than a year and was one of two newcomers in the poll. The Wolfpack (21-8) have gone 8-1 since Yow returned to the bench after taking two months off for a new round of cancer treatment.
Their run included a victory over North Carolina on the night the court at Reynolds Coliseum was named in Yow's honor.
"I think it says a lot about who they are as people, about their character," Yow said of her players. "They've really had to dig deep. They can see I'm not like myself before this happened. I still have some really good days and some days that aren't so good."
The Wolfpack players have often said their coach's fight has inspired them. Yow said her team's improved health also has been a factor in the recent victories.
Center Gillian Goring had back surgery during the preseason, while guard Ashley Key had knee surgery. Both had to ease their way back. Forward Marquetta Dickens missed time with a concussion.
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