The Colorado State Rams (14-1, 1-1 in Mountain West) were handed their first loss of the season, , on Saturday. And in the eyes of national voters, their lone loss was enough to drop them from both the and polls.
The Rams, who ranked No. 24 in both polls in Week 8, received 31 votes in the AP poll in Week 9, putting them at No. 33, and received 35 votes in the USA Today poll, tying them at No. 26 with Georgetown.
Colorado State was among the four teams who dropped out of the AP Top 25, joining Washington Northern Iowa and Georgetown. The Rams were joined by Washington and San Diego State as the three teams to fall out of USA Today’s top 25.
Colorado State shot only 32.7 from the field in its loss at New Mexico, while the Lobos hit 51.0 percent of their shots in the victory. The loss ended the Rams’ best start in program history, but they have a chance to get back on track with Wednesday’s game against archival Wyoming on Wednesday in Fort Collins.
For the fifth straight week, Kentucky was the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Top 25.
The Wildcats (13-0) got all 64 first-place votes cast Monday after having the week off, and have been atop the rankings all season. Kentucky hasn’t played since beating Louisville on Dec. 27 and returns Tuesday against Mississippi.
The top five remained unchanged, with Duke, Virginia, Wisconsin and Louisville behind Kentucky.
Seton Hall, VCU, Arkansas and Old Dominion were new arrivals to the Top 25, with the No. 19 Pirates (12-2) the highest of that group after upsetting then-unbeaten Villanova over the weekend. For the No. 25 Monarchs (12-1), it marked their first appearance in program history.
