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No. 1 and Trying To Stay There Tip-Ins
On Monday, Florida became the third team to claim the No. 1
ranking this season. By comparison, only five teams held the top
spot all of last year. "There are about 30 teams that deserve to
be ranked in the Top 10," Kansas coach Bill Self said last
Saturday after his top-ranked Jayhawks lost to Stanford 64-58.
Self's team was No. 6 two weeks ago but ascended to No. 1 when
four of the five teams ahead of the Jayhawks all lost. That was
the biggest leap to the top since West Virginia jumped from No. 8
in 1957.... UCLA (2-1) showed its first signs of fight under new
coach Ben Howland during a 52-50 loss to No. 9 Kentucky on
Saturday at the Wooden Classic in Anaheim, and now Howland is
looking forward to Dec. 17, when 6'9" senior T.J. Cummings is
expected to become academically eligible and 6'7" freshman Trevor
Ariza (collapsed lung) is scheduled to return to the lineup....
UConn got a welcome addition on Saturday when 6'10" freshman
Charlie Villanueva made his long-awaited debut with 16 points,
five rebounds and two assists and three blocks in a 74-46 rout of
Army. UConn (6-1) had held Villanueva out of games while the NCAA
and school investigated him for possible rules violations, but he
was cleared to play last Friday.... The most shocking score last
week was Holy Cross's 78-71 loss to Williams, a Division III
school, last Thursday. The Ephs, who are the defending Division
III champs, have won 25 straight games, the nation's longest
winning streak at any level, but it was still a surprise to see
them beat the Crusaders, who have been to three straight NCAA
tournaments.
SI.com
More college basketball coverage at si.com/basketball/ncaa.
