Duke Voted No. 1

Duke moved back to No. 1 in the AP men’s college basketball poll, reclaiming the top spot from the team that bumped it out six weeks ago.

The Blue Devils (16-1) had been No. 1 for two weeks before losing at Michigan. North Carolina (18-1) jumped over them that week and held the top ranking until this week.

Stanford moved from seventh to fifth, the highest ranking in school history. Stanford (16-0) got one first-place vote following an impressive 93-80 victory over UCLA.

Arizona and Kentucky both dropped one place to sixth and seventh, and were followed in the Top Ten by Connecticut, UCLA and Iowa.

Washington’s 7-foot center, Todd MacCulloch, has been named the Pac-10 men’s basketball player of the week for the second time this season.

MacCulloch averaged nearly 25 points and 12 rebounds in victories at Oregon and Oregon State last week.

The Southeastern Conference is slowly disappearing from the Top 25 in women’s basketball.

Auburn’s departure from the AP poll left the SEC, recognized as the premier league in the women’s game, with just four ranked teams - the lowest number in almost four years. It has seven at the beginning of the year.

SEC leader Tennessee was a unanimous choice at No. 1.

Arizona moved up two places to seventh. Stanford dropped two places to 13th after having a 48-game winning streak in Pac-10 play snapped by a one-point loss at Arizona. Washington was 15th.