Duke falls out of poll for 1st time in 16 years
Duke's streak in the Top 25 is over after a 16-year run.
The Blue Devils fell out of The Associated Press women's basketball poll after 312 straight weeks. They entered on Nov. 29, 1999, and hadn't left until Monday. It's the third longest streak in the history of the poll since the rankings began in 1976. Only Tennessee (561) and UConn (423) have had longer runs in the Top 25 and both those streaks are still active.
"It shows the tremendous work that Gail (Goestenkors) and her staff did and shows the history of the program and the power of the players in the program," said Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie, who took over the program in 2007. "Our history is so fantastic and should be cherished. It's a different generation and time and you have to work through things and work for each other since nothing is guaranteed."
The Huskies remained No. 1 on Monday after routing Memphis and Temple this past week by an average of 47.5 points.
UConn was followed by South Carolina, Notre Dame, Baylor and Maryland. Texas dropped to sixth after losing its first game of the season to Baylor on Sunday.
Tennessee fell five spots to 18th after losing to Arkansas. The Lady Vols faced the Irish on Monday night.
Duke (13-6) has struggled lately, dropping three of its last five games - to Syracuse, Louisville and N.C. State. The Blue Devils spent 34 weeks at No. 1 during its 16-year streak trailing only UConn and Baylor in that period.
DePaul and West Virginia entered the rankings at Nos. 24 and 25. It's the Blue Demons third appearance this season in the poll. The Mountaineers are ranked for the first time since Dec. 22, 2014. Southern California joined Duke in exiting the Top 25.
Other poll items:
600 WINS: It was a good week for coaches who won their 600th career games. DePaul's Doug Bruno and West Virginia's Mike Carey reached that milestone over the past few days. Bruno became the fourth active coach to achieve that plateau at the same school, joining Geno Auriemma (UConn), Harry Perretta (Villanova) and Robin Selvig (Montana). Carey won 288 games in 13 seasons as the men's coach at Salem International and has 312 at West Virginia.
KEEP CLIMBING: Jose Fernandez has South Florida at 15th in the poll, the school's best ranking ever. The Bulls have four losses this season came against No. 1 UConn, No. 4 Baylor, No. 10 Mississippi State and St. John's. Coach Fernandez's team got ranked for the first time a year ago and reached as high as 18 on Nov. 23 this season.
FUN DEVILS: Charli Turner Thorne has Arizona State sitting atop the Pac-12 and matching the best ranking in school history. The Sun Devils are 6-0 in the conference, which boasts four Top 25 teams week, including three of the Top 12. Arizona State moved up to No. 8, equaling their ranking on March 5, 2007. The Sun Devils play rival Arizona twice this week.
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To view the poll and how the panel voted: http://collegebasketball.ap.org/Womens-Top-25-2016-11
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