After another impressive week, the Ohio State Buckeyes strengthened their hold on the No. 1 spot in the NCAA College Basketball polls, earning unanimous votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
The Buckeyes, 20-0 on the season and 7-0 in the Big Ten, face No. 12 Purdue on Tuesday night at Value City Arena. Purdue bounced back to win its last two over Penn State and Michigan State after a mini-slide, with back-to-back losses to Minnesota and West Virginia. The Boilermakers will come into Columbus hungry for a statement win, and ready to give the Buckeye everything they can handle.
Kansas and Syracuse both dropped out of the top five this week, as Syracuse has lost two straight, while the Jayhawks lost the nation's best home winning streak against Texas. Pittsburgh slid into the No. 2 spot, with Duke, San Diego State and Connecticut rounding out the top five.
Saint Mary's and Utah State earned their first week in the polls, coming in at 24 and 25, respectively.
Here is the rest of the Top 25 (from ESPN):
| ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll | |||
| RK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
| 1 | Ohio State (31) | 20-0 | 775 |
| 2 | Pittsburgh | 19-1 | 727 |
| 3 | Duke | 18-1 | 712 |
| 4 | San Diego State | 20-0 | 677 |
| 5 | Connecticut | 16-2 | 624 |
| 6 | Kansas | 18-1 | 618 |
| 7 | Villanova | 17-2 | 580 |
| 8 | Texas | 16-3 | 563 |
| 9 | Brigham Young | 19-1 | 533 |
| 10 | Syracuse | 18-2 | 498 |
| 11 | Texas A&M | 17-2 | 436 |
| 12 | Purdue | 17-3 | 421 |
| 13 | Missouri | 17-3 | 398 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | 16-4 | 364 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 15-4 | 323 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 15-4 | 307 |
| 17 | Washington | 15-4 | 271 |
| 18 | Minnesota | 14-4 | 264 |
| 19 | Louisville | 15-4 | 173 |
| 20 | Georgetown | 14-5 | 140 |
| 21 | Illinois | 14-6 | 136 |
| 22 | Vanderbilt | 14-4 | 74 |
| 23 | Florida | 15-4 | 67 |
| 24 | Saint Mary's | 17-3 | 58 |
| 25 | Utah State | 18-2 | 57 |