Illinois Joins Top 25

Tue., Dec. 31, 1996

Compiled From Wire Services

It’s good to be ranked, but Illinois coach Lon Kruger is not going to spend much time thinking about it.

“They don’t mean a lot at this point of the season,” Kruger said Monday after the Illini became the only newcomer in the week’s men’s college basketball poll, moving in at No. 24.

Illinois (10-2) is on a six-game winning streak. Its losses were to Louisville and Cal.

Kansas kept its grip on the top spot for the fifth straight week, and Wake Forest and Kentucky held the next two spots for the fourth consecutive week.

Connecticut, Old Dominion and Stanford remained the top three teams in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll while Tennessee fell to its lowest ranking in six years at No. 8.

Top-ranked Kansas heads the field of eight teams for next year’s Rainbow Classic, scheduled for Dec. 27-30 at Honolulu.

The Classic is one of the few tournaments the Jayhawks have never won. They finished fifth in 1986 and second four years ago.

Joining Kansas in next year’s field will be Virginia, New Mexico State, Ohio State, Florida, Vanderbilt and Nebraska with Hawaii serving as host.

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Illinois Joins Top 25

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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