Kentucky again a runaway No. 1

Published Mar. 5, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Kentucky, Syracuse and Kansas are the top three teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll for a second straight week.

Kentucky, which finished unbeaten in the Southeastern Conference, is a runaway No. 1 for a seventh straight week, receiving 63 first-place votes Monday from the 65-member national media panel.

Big East champion Syracuse, which received two first-place votes, is second for the sixth consecutive week. Kansas, the Big 12 champion for an eighth straight season, is followed by North Carolina, Missouri, Duke, Ohio State, Michigan State, Marquette and Michigan.

Gonzaga, at No. 24, and Iowa State, at 25th, are the week's newcomers. Gonzaga was out the last two weeks, while Iowa State is ranked for the first time since the opening week of 2005-06.

Louisville, which was ranked as high as fourth this season, dropped out from 19th, while Virginia was 24th.