Wake Forest moves to No. 2

Pittsburgh begins its second week as the No. 1 ranked team in the country.

Associated Press

Pittsburgh will start its second week as the No. 1 team with a new No. 2 in Wake Forest.

The Demon Deacons jumped from fourth to second in The Associated Press college basketball poll Monday following its victory over North Carolina.

The Panthers (14-0) beat St. John’s 90-67 on Sunday in their first game as a No. 1 team and just hours later Wake Forest (14-0) handed North Carolina its second straight Atlantic Coast Conference loss, 92-89.

Pittsburgh received all but two first-place votes from the 72-member national media panel and the Demon Deacons got the others in reaching their highest ranking since their only two weeks as a No. 1 team in November 2004.

Duke (14-1), which beat Davidson and Florida State last week, fell one place to third, while Connecticut (14-1), which won road games against West Virginia and Cincinnati, moved up one spot to fourth.

North Carolina (14-2), the unanimous No. 1 from the preseason poll until last week’s voting, dropped to fifth.

Oklahoma was sixth, followed by Michigan State, Syracuse, UCLA and Clemson (16-0), the nation’s only other unbeaten other than Pitt and Wake Forest.

Texas was 11th, followed by Notre Dame, Georgetown, Marquette, Xavier, Arizona State, Butler, Minnesota, Purdue and Louisville.

Baylor, California, Villanova, Tennessee and Michigan were the last five ranked teams.

California (15-2) moved into the rankings for the first time since March 2003. The Golden Bears have won nine straight, including their first four Pac-10 games, under first-year coach Mike Montgomery — and they’re headed into their rivalry game at Stanford on Saturday in Montgomery’s return to the place he coached 18 seasons.

“It’s definitely a nice sign for our team and what we’ve accomplished so far,” Cal guard Patrick Christopher said Monday of receiving a ranking. “We can’t be satisfied with our play in January. We’re definitely focused on the long term. Sometimes it’s just about respect. This is the first time in my collegiate career being in the Top 25. It’s definitely something to be excited about. We want to keep what we have going.”

Michigan (13-3) was ranked in two polls before falling out last week, but the Wolverines are back in following wins over Indiana and Iowa.

Boston College (13-4) dropped out after a one-week appearance. The Eagles jumped in at No. 17 after their win at North Carolina and they were gone just as fast after home losses this week to Harvard and Miami.

West Virginia (11-4) also fell out after a one-week appearance. The Mountaineers, who lost to Connecticut and Marquette this week, gave the Big East a record nine teams in the Top 25. Now the 16-team conference is down to eight ranked teams.

There are eight games between ranked teams this week and one matches two of the three unbeatens — Wake Forest, which plays at Boston College on Wednesday, at Clemson on Saturday.

Women

Tennessee keeps dropping in the women’s basketball poll, falling to its lowest ranking in 23 years.

Connecticut remained the unanimous No. 1 choice for the seventh straight week Monday in The Associated Press Top 25.

North Carolina is No. 2 and plays Connecticut next Monday in Chapel Hill. Oklahoma, Duke and Baylor round out the first five.

The Lady Vols’ streak of 211 consecutive weeks in the top 10 ended earlier this season. They fell six spots to No. 13 and hold their lowest ranking since the final poll of 1986 when they finished 15th. Tennessee lost at Vanderbilt 74-58 on Sunday.

The Blue Devils host Maryland on Monday night.

Auburn moved up three spots to sixth — its highest ranking since Jan. 3, 2000. Louisville climbed three places to seventh. Texas A&M dropped five spots to eighth after losing to Florida State.

Stanford moved up two places into ninth after routing Washington and Washington State. Notre Dame finished off the first 10.

The Irish were followed by California, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia and Ohio State.

Texas, which was No. 4 two weeks ago, dropped eight places to No. 16 after losing to Purdue and Texas Tech. The Longhorns had started the season 12-0 before losing three of their last four games.