North Carolina and UCLA held the top two spots in the college basketball poll for the third straight week today, and there was finally some change in the roster of ranked teams for the first time in three weeks.
The Tar Heels (6-0) received 57 first-place votes and 1,616 points from the nationwide media panel, while the Bruins (4-0) were No. 1 on five ballots and got 1,518 points.North Carolina crushed VMI 129-89 in its only game of the week, while the Bruins also went 1-0, beating LSU 92-72.
The same 25 teams had been in poll for the last three weeks, but this week Illinois, California and Iowa State moved in as Nos. 23-25, replacing Ohio University, Villanova and Michigan.
Arkansas (6-1), Massachusetts (5-1), Kentucky (5-1) and Arizona (7-1) were third through seventh, each moving up one spot from last week. The third-ranked Razorbacks received three first-place votes.
Kansas (5-1), which lost 80-61 at Indiana, dropped from third to seventh and was followed by Florida, Duke and Connecticut, which were eighth through 10th last week.
Maryland led the second 10 and was followed by Georgetown, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Arizona State, Minnesota, Michigan State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Wisconsin.
The last five teams were New Mexico State, Virginia and the three newcomers.
Illinois (7-1) was 25th in the preseason poll and dropped out without playing a game. The only loss for the Fighting Illini was to Duke, and they have won four in a row since then.
California (5-0) entered the Top 25 off an 82-75 victory over Minnesota. The Golden Bears, who were ranked as high as sixth last season, feature an 11-man rotation as they try to replace NBA lottery picks Jason Kidd and Lamond Murray.