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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 9:07 a.m., Monday, November 17, 2008

College basketball: UConn women unanimous No. 1

By DOUG FEINBERG
Associated Press

LSU's streak of Top 25 appearances is over while Connecticut became a unanimous choice at No. 1.

The Lady Tigers fell out of The Associated Press poll Monday for the first time since Feb. 25, 2002, a span of 117 straight weeks. It was the sixth-longest active streak in the country behind Tennessee (417), Connecticut (279), Duke (169), North Carolina and Stanford (134).

LSU, 24th in the preseason poll, lost to then-No. 16 Notre Dame 56-50 on Sunday. The Lady Tigers have had four different coaches during their streak in the Top 25 and have had a steady stream of talented players. However, they graduated their starting five from last season's Final Four team and Hall of Fame coach Van Chancellor is basically starting from scratch.

The Huskies survived a scare before pulling away from Georgia Tech on Sunday to remain the top choice in the poll. Connecticut, a unanimous No. 1 for five weeks last season, had all but one of the votes in the preseason poll with Stanford garnering the other first place ballot.

The Cardinal lost at Baylor on Sunday and tumbled to No. 8. Maryland, third in the preseason poll, was shocked by TCU on Friday and fell to No. 11. Buoyed by the victory, the Horned Frogs entered the Top 25 at No. 24 for the first time since the final poll of the 2004-05 season.

"It's good to be back," TCU coach Jeff Mittie said. "We always schedule tough which gives us some opportunities. We still play Texas A&M, Oklahoma State and Cal on the road."

With losses by Stanford and Maryland, Oklahoma moved up two spots to second — eight points ahead of No. 3 Rutgers. North Carolina, Tennessee, Duke, and California each moved up two spots.

Rutgers visits seventh-ranked Cal and No. 8 Stanford this weekend.

The Cardinal were followed by Louisville and Baylor, which jumped nine places to No. 10 after its 81-65 win over Stanford.

Maryland fell out of the Top 10 for the first time since the preseason poll of 2005-06. Only Tennessee, Connecticut, and North Carolina have been in the Top 10 longer.

The Terrapins were followed by Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Texas, and Notre Dame.

Virginia dropped one place to 16th and visited Tennessee on Monday night. Ohio State and Arizona State flip-flopped their places in the poll. Oklahoma State dropped five spots to No. 19 after losing at Duke on Friday. Auburn remained in 20th.

Purdue, Florida State, Xavier, TCU, and Old Dominion held the final five spots. The Lady Monarchs' visited Texas on Monday night.