Illinois unanimous No. 1; Kansas ascends to No. 3

By The Associated Press     Feb 1, 2005

Illinois was No. 1 in the Associated Press’ college basketball poll for the ninth straight week Monday, and for the first time the Illini were a unanimous choice.

An impressive win at Wisconsin and a home victory over Minnesota kept the Illini (21-0) unbeaten. Unlike last week, when they received all but one first-place votes from the national media panel, the Illini were No. 1 on all 72 ballots.

They are the first unanimous No. 1 since Duke did it for nine polls in a 10-week span in 2001-02. The Illini’s nine-week run at No. 1 is the longest since Connecticut was there for 10 weeks in 1998-99.

Boston College (18-0), the only other unbeaten team in Division One, jumped from No. 8 to No. 5, the highest ranking in school history.

North Carolina moved up one spot to second, while Kansas, which bounced back from its first loss of the season with victories over Baylor and Texas, jumped from sixth to No. 3.

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