MCLEAN, Virginia (Ticker) -- One of just three unbeaten teams, North Carolina held on to the top ranking in the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll released Monday. The Tar Heels, who improved to 17-0 with a pair of victories last week, picked up 23 of 31 first-place votes and 765 points overall.
North Carolina is No. 1 for the sixth straight week. The nation's other two unbeatens - Memphis (15-0) and Kansas (15-0) - remained second and third, respectively. The Tigers garnered six first-place votes and the Jayhawks two.
Washington State (14-1), Vanderbilt (16-1) and Mississippi (14-1) also suffered their first losses last week and dropped in the poll. UCLA (16-1), which defeated Washington State, 81-74, on Saturday to improve to 50-1 at home against the Cougars, remained fourth and is followed by Duke (13-1), which climbed two spots. Washington State slipped four slots to eighth. Georgetown (13-1), Tennessee (14-1), Washington State, Texas A&M (15-1) and Indiana (14-1) complete the top 10.
Tennessee jumped two spots after beating Mississippi, 85-83. Michigan State (14-2), which was held to a school record-low in the shot clock era in Saturday's 43-36 loss to Iowa, fell five spots to 11th. The Spartans are followed by Butler (16-1), Marquette (13-2), Vanderbilt (16-1), Mississippi, Pittsburgh (14-2), Wisconsin (13-2), Dayton (14-1), Texas (13-3) and Xavier (14-3). Vanderbilt slipped two notches following Saturday's 79-73 double-overtime defeat to Kentucky. Villanova (11-3) and Rhode Island (15-2) are tied for 21st, with Clemson (13-2), Miami (14-1) and Arizona State (13-2) completing the poll. Stanford and Arizona both fell from the rankings. Arizona had lost two in a row before beating Houston, 85-71, on Saturday.