The USA Today/ESPN poll is out, and there is a new No. 1 at the top. The North Carolina Tar Heels had the same fate as the USC Trojans over the weekend at the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament, beating South Carolina but losing to UNLV, just in a different order. The Tar Heels fell from No. 1 to No. 5, with the Kentucky Wildcats assuming the top spot in the latest college basketball rankings.
Here is the USA Today/ESPN top 10:
- Kentucky (22 first place votes)
- Ohio State (eight first place votes)
- Syracuse (one first place vote)
- Duke
- North Carolina
- Louisville
- Wisconsin
- Baylor
- Florida
- Connecticut
The Cal Bears are the only Pac-12 team ranked in the top 25, at No. 23. The Arizona Wildcats (28th), Washington Huskies (tied for 37th), and Stanford Cardinal (tied for 42nd) are the only other conference teams in the "others receiving votes" section, in a down year for the conference.
The Long Beach State 49ers continue their tough non-conference schedule on Monday night, traveling to Louisville to face the No. 6 Cardinals.