Kentucky moves up to No. 15 in AP poll; Cards drop eight places

Kentucky rose three spots and Louisille dropped eight in The Associated Press college basketball poll released Monday.

The Wildcats bounced up from No. 18 to No. 15 after beating the Cardinals 73-66 in Rupp Arena on Saturday.

The Cardinals tumbled from No. 6 last week to No. 14.

Arizona and Syracuse lead the same top five teams for the fourth straight week.

Arizona (13-0) saw its lead in first-place votes change for the first time Monday. It received 60 No. 1 votes from the 65-member national media panel, three fewer than it got the previous three weeks.

Syracuse (12-0), which beat previously unbeaten Villanova on Saturday, was No. 1 on the other five ballots.

The three Big Ten schools — Ohio State, Wisconsin and Michigan State — remained third through fifth.

Oklahoma State moved up one spot to sixth, and Duke, Wichita State, Baylor and Oregon all jumped two places to round out the top 10.

ASSOCIATED PRESS TOP 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 29, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

Record Pts Prv

1. Arizona (60) 13-0 1,620 1

2. Syracuse (5) 12-0 1,550 2

3. Ohio St. 13-0 1,462 3

4. Wisconsin 13-0 1,408 4

5. Michigan St. 11-1 1,364 5

6. Oklahoma St. 11-1 1,278 7

7. Duke 10-2 1,144 9

8. Wichita St. 13-0 1,067 10

9. Baylor 10-1 1,013 11

10. Oregon 12-0 987 12

11. Villanova 11-1 943 8

12. Florida 10-2 915 13

13. Iowa St. 11-0 869 14

14. Louisville 11 - 2 812 6

15. Kentucky 10 - 3 753 18

16. Kansas 8-3 666 16

17. UConn 11-1 647 15

18. Memphis 9-2 625 17

19. North Carolina 9-3 413 19

20. Colorado 11-2 373 21

21. San Diego St. 10-1 371 20

22. Iowa 11-2 258 22

23. UMass 11-1 160 23

24. Gonzaga 11-2 78 24

25. Missouri 11-1 76 25

Others receiving votes: Illinois 57, Texas 40, George Washington 37, Oklahoma 36, Toledo 32, Florida St. 24, UCLA 19, Harvard 10, Michigan 7, Creighton 5, Kansas St. 3, Pittsburgh 2, LSU 1.

This story was originally published December 30, 2013 at 1:08 PM with the headline "Kentucky moves up to No. 15 in AP poll; Cards drop eight places."