UNLV slips to No. 22 in AP poll

UNLV's first loss of the season, a 77-69 setback at Louisville on Saturday, dropped the Rebels into a tie with Texas at No. 22 in the weekly Associated Press poll released Monday.

The Rebels (9-1) also are No. 22 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll.

UNLV was No. 20 in the AP poll before the loss to then-No. 24 Louisville. The Cardinals (8-0) moved up to No. 20.

Meanwhile, Duke was still the unanimous No. 1 and Texas A&M moved into the Top 25 for the first time this season.

The Blue Devils (10-0), who received all 65 first-place votes from the national media panel, have been No. 1 all season. They've had smooth sailing except for a toe injury to star freshman guard Krie Irving. His right foot has been placed in a hard cast and he is out indefinitely.

Ohio State (8-0) remained second and then came the changes in the top 10.

Kansas moved up one place to third and Connecticut jumped two spots to fourth. Syracuse moved from eighth to fifth and Kansas State dropped one place to sixth.

Tennessee jumped from 11th to No. 7 after its 83-76 win at Pittsburgh, a loss that dropped the Panthers five spots to eighth. The Volunteers are at their highest ranking since finishing fifth in the final poll in 2007-08.

Baylor moved up one place to ninth, the highest ranking in school history, and Villanova was No. 10.

Texas A&M (9-1) was the only newcomer to the poll, moving in at No. 25 after its 63-62 victory over Washington (6-3), which fell out from 21st.

San Diego State (11-0) continued to improve on its first-ever ranking, jumping from 14th to 11th. The Aztecs were followed by Illinois, Missouri, Michigan State, Georgetown, Brigham Young, Kentucky, Memphis, Purdue and Louisville.

The last five ranked teams were Minnesota, UNLV and Texas, which tied for 22nd, Notre Dame and Texas A&M.

Seven ranked teams, including three in the top 10, lost last week, but three of them -- Pittsburgh, Michigan State and Memphis -- lost to a ranked opponent.

The Big East still has the most ranked teams with seven and it still has four in the top 10 as Villanova replaced Georgetown to join Connecticut, Syracuse and Pittsburgh. The Big 12 has six ranked teams and three in the top 10: Kansas, Kansas State and Baylor.

There are no games between ranked teams this week, when most schools are having final exams, but there are three games between teams that have been ranked this season.