NEW YORK (AP) -- Ohio State returned to No. 1 in The Associated Press college basketball poll Monday, the third straight week there was been a change at the top.
The Buckeyes, who were No. 1 for four weeks before falling to second for two weeks, replaced Duke at the top of the rankings. Ohio State received 45 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel, easily outdistancing Kansas, which moved up one place and had 14 No. 1 votes.
BYU, which had five first-place votes, jumped from seventh to third, while Pittsburgh remained fourth, tied with Duke, which lost at Virginia Tech on Saturday and had one first-place vote. Purdue, Texas, Notre Dame, San Diego State and Wisconsin round out the top 10. Duke picked up the last remaining first-place vote.
Arizona, which had been No. 10 fell all the way to 18th after a weekend sweep in Los Angeles at the hands of USC and UCLA.
The second 10 includes Louisville, Syracuse, North Carolina, Florida, St. John's, Connecticut, Georgetown, Arizona, Villanova and Kentucky.
Rounding out the top 25 are Vanderbilt, Missouri, Xavier, Texas A&M and Utah State, which rejoined the poll.
The Buckeyes welcome being No. 1 a second time.
"I tell our team all the time we want to be No. 1 at the end of the season," coach Thad Matta said. "We want to be playing our best basketball in March. Moving to No. 1 is a tribute to how hard our guys have worked all year. We appreciate the recognition and our guys certainly deserve it."
The Buckeyes (27-2, 14-2) need just one more win to clinch at least a share of their fourth Big Ten championship in six years.
