Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Ohio State’s emphatic regular-season ending win over Wisconsin solidified the Buckeyes’ hold on the top spot in the ESPN/USA Today men’s basketball coaches’ poll released Monday.
The Buckeyes (29-2), the top seed in this week’s Big Ten tournament, picked up 25 first-place votes — eight more than last week. No. 2Â Kansas (29-2), which beat a pair of Top 25 teams (Texas A&M and Missouri) last week, picked up six first-place votes — eight fewer than a week ago.
Two Big East teams hoping for a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA tournament – Pittsburgh and Notre Dame — moved up to third and fourth in the rankings. The Panthers (27-4) are the top seed in the Big East tournament, which begins Tuesday at Madison Square Garden. The Irish (25-5) wrapped up their Big East regular season with a win at Connecticut and are No. 2 in the conference tourney.
Duke (27-4) fell one spot to No. 5 after losing toNorth Carolina. The Tar Heels (24-6), meanwhile, vaulted six spots to No. 7 after wrapping up the ACC regular-season title (and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament) with the win over the Blue Devils.
San Diego State (29-2) moved from ninth to sixth in the latest balloting of 31 NCAA Division I head coaches.
Two other teams tumbled after costly losses. BYU (28-3) fell from No. 3 to No. 8 after losing at home to New Mexico, while Purdue (25-6) slipped from No. 6 to No. 9 after losing at Iowa.
Texas (26-5) fell from No. 8 to No. 10.
-ESPN