THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

*--* Rk School (Rec.) Comment 1 DUKE (12-0) J.J. Redick’s 34-point game sets new standard for Duke freshmen 2 PITTSBURGH (13-1) Panthers rank in NCAA’s top three in defensive and offensive FG% 3 ARIZONA (11-1) Now showing at an arena near you. (USC tonight, UCLA Saturday.) 4 FLORIDA (14-2) Gators beat Mississippi State and Georgia--and have won 10 in a row 5 NOTRE DAME (14-2) One of three Big East teams in the top 10 6 ALABAMA (12-2) Survived in overtime against struggling Mississippi State 7 ILLINOIS (12-2) Big Ten road got bumpy at Iowa 8 OKLAHOMA (10-3) Sampson would make a good ref: OSU’s winning shot was late 9 KANSAS (12-3) Jayhawks are winning by huge margins, and haven’t lost since Dec. 7 10 CONNECTICUT (11-1) Imagine if sophomores Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon ever became seniors 11 TEXAS (11-2) First Oklahoma-Texas showdown isn’t until Feb. 10 12 SYRACUSE (11-1) Catch freshman Carmelo Anthony in a college game while you can 13 WAKE FOREST (11-1) Thumped by Duke, Deacons recover by beating Maryland 14 INDIANA (12-3) Caution: Freshman Bracey Wright missed a game with sore back 15 MISSOURI (10-2) Syracuse put clamps on the Tigers 16 LOUISVILLE (10-1) Pitino’s team is a big Conference USA surprise 17 KENTUCKY (12-3) Break from SEC schedule against Notre Dame on Saturday is no day off 18 MARYLAND (9-4) Terrapins are the national champions nobody talks about 19 GEORGIA (9-4) Harrick’s team has the players to make noise in March 20 LOUISIANA ST. (12-2) With wins over Arizona and Mississippi State, Tigers bear watching 21 MISSISSIPPI ST. (10-4) Reeling Bulldogs have lost to Florida, LSU and Alabama in nine-day span 22 OKLAHOMA ST. (13-1) Only loss was to ... College of Charleston 23 CREIGHTON (14-1) Facing conference challenge from Southern Illinois on Saturday 24 MARQUETTE (11-3) Dwyane Wade has three 30-point games this season 25 CALIFORNIA (10-2) Nice home work with victories over Stanford and Oregon

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