North Carolina Regains Top Spot

MCLEAN, Virginia (Ticker) -- North Carolina is at full strength and back to No. 1 as the postseason approaches. The Tar Heels (27-2), who have point guard Ty Lawson back in the lineup, regained the top ranking in the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll released Monday. Lawson returned for Saturday's 90-80 victory over Boston College, playing 21 minutes off the bench. The Tar Heels went 5-1 without him, losing only to Duke. North Carolina, which was No. 1 for nine weeks earlier in the season, received 19 of 31 first-place votes and 763 points. The Tar Heels face Duke on Saturday for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.

Tennessee (26-3), which spent last week at No. 1 for the first time in school history, fell three spots to No. 4. After handing Memphis its first loss of the season, the Volunteers fell at Vanderbilt, 72-69, but then rebounded to beat Kentucky, 63-60, on Sunday.

UCLA (26-3), which meets Stanford on Thursday for the Pac-10 Conference title, climbed one spot to No. 2, collecting six first-place votes and 718 points. The Bruins garnered one more point than Memphis (28-1), which remained third and secured the remaining six first-place votes. No. 5 Duke (25-3), Kansas (26-3), Stanford (24-4), Wisconsin (24-4), Texas (24-5) and Georgetown (24-4) complete the top 10.

The Hoyas are one of five Big East Conference teams in the poll for the second straight week. They are joined by No. 13 Louisville (24-6), No. 14 Connecticut (23-6), No. 19 Notre Dame (22-6) and No. 20 Marquette (21-7). Xavier (25-4) starts the second 10 and is followed by Butler (27-6), Louisville, Connecticut, Purdue (23-6), Vanderbilt (24-5), Indiana (24-5), Michigan State (23-6), Notre Dame and Marquette.

Vanderbilt followed up its win over Tennessee with a 78-73 loss at Arkansas. No. 21 Drake (25-4), No. 22 Washington State (22-7), No. 23 Gonzaga (23-6), No. 24 Brigham Young (23-6) and No. 25 Mississippi State (20-8) complete the poll. Gonzaga and Mississippi State were not not ranked last week. Dropping out were No. 23 Saint Mary's and No. 25 Kent State, who both lost on Saturday.