Ohio State's return to The Associated Press college basketball poll yesterday after a six-year absence was not met with celebration by Buckeyes coach Jim O'Brien.
''It's nice because for no other reason it shows that we've gotten a little bit of respect and it shows we're making a little bit of progress,'' O'Brien said. ''But that's it.''
Ohio State's appearance gave the Big Ten a record-tying seven teams in the rankings.
The top six teams - Connecticut, Duke, Cincinnati, Stanford, Maryland and Kentucky - held their spots from last week, but there were some significant moves in the rest of the top 25.
Wisconsin, Auburn and Iowa all made a jump of at least five places, while Indiana, Arkansas, Purdue and Clemson all fell at least four spots.
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| Behind sophomore guard Scoonie Penn, No. 21 Ohio State is ranked in the top 25 for the first time in six years. The Buckeyes are one of seven Big Ten teams currently ranked in the newest AP poll.
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The Big Ten was the first conference to have seven teams in one poll, on Jan. 11, 1993, a number matched by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Dec. 1, 1997, and again the next week.
The big difference in the three groups of seven is that Michigan was the highest ranked of the first Big Ten bunch at No. 2, and No. 1 Duke led the ACC group. The highest ranked Big Ten team this week is No. 12 Iowa.
''Obviously, our league is very, very good,'' O'Brien said. ''Unlike some other leagues, we don't have a marquee team like Duke or Connecticut. But we've got a conference where nobody can point a finger and say, 'That team is not a good team.'''
Connecticut (13-0) held the No. 1 spot for the seventh straight week after beating Boston College and West Virginia. The Huskies received 55 first-place votes and 1,756 points from the media panel.
Duke (15-1), which beat Georgia Tech and Virginia by a combined 87 points, had 13 No. 1 votes and 1,700 points.
Cincinnati (15-0) received the other three first-place votes. The Bearcats won three games last week to remain unbeaten, the last a two-point victory at Southern Mississippi.
Stanford was No. 4, followed by Maryland, Kentucky, Arizona, Auburn, North Carolina and UCLA.
St. John's dropped one spot to 11th and was followed by Iowa, Purdue, Michigan State, Kansas, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Syracuse, Minnesota, Texas Christian, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Indiana, Arkansas and Clemson to round out the poll.
Ohio State, ranked for two weeks in the 1992-93 season, won two conference games last week against ranked opponents, 78-74 in overtime at Wisconsin and 73-56 over Indiana. The Buckeyes, 8-22 last season under O'Brien, are unbeaten in nine games at their new arena with the losses coming at Vanderbilt, Toledo and Miami. Ohio State puts its ranking and its home streak on the line Tuesday night against Iowa.
The Buckeyes replaced California (10-3), which entered the poll for the first time this season last week at No. 25. The Golden Bears split their games last week, beating Oregon State and losing to Stanford.
Wisconsin, which beat Michigan State and Purdue last week, made the biggest jump, from 24th to No. 17. Auburn, one of three unbeaten teams in Division I, beat Arkansas and LSU last week to move to No. 8 from 14th. Iowa, which beat Illinois in its only game last week, climbed five spots to 12th.
Indiana's losses to Michigan and Ohio State dropped the Hoosiers from 13th to No. 23. Arkansas, which lost to Auburn and Mississippi, fell five spots to 24th. Both No. 13 Purdue and No. 25 Clemson dropped four places.
AP PHOTO
01-12-99
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