It marked the school's first No. 1 ranking in the AP since the final regular season poll of 2002-03 and marked the 89th time the Wildcats had held the No. 1 ranking. For head coach John Calipari, he joined Frank McGuire as the only two coaches to have taken three different schools to the AP's No. 1 ranking. Calipari led U Mass to the No. 1 ranking in both the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons plus Memphis to the top spot back in the 2007-08 season. As for McGuire, he led St John's, North Carolina and then South Carolina to the top of the polls during his legendary 30-year career.

McGuire led both St John's (1952) and North Carolina (1957) to a Final 4 but Calipari can do him one better in 2010, by leading the Wildcats to this year's Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (April 3-5). Calipari led the Minutemen (1996) and Tigers (2008) to Final Fours and could join Rick Pitino as the only coach to take three different schools to a Final Four. For the record, Pitino led Providence to the 1987 Final Four, Kentucky to Final Fours in 1993, 1996 (NCAA champ) and 1997 (runner up) plus Louisville to the 2005 Final Four.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself as Kentucky lost its very first game as the nation's No. 1 team on Tuesday night at South Carolina. South Carolina's Devan Downey scored 30 points as the Gamecocks beat a No. 1-ranked team for the first time in school history. Star freshman Wall had 19 points but made just 6-of-16 FGs for the Wildcats, while fellow freshman Cousins matched a career high with 27 points plus added 12 rebounds. However, the rest of the team connected on just 7-of-24 shots (29.2 percent). Kentucky's loss (Wildcats will host Vandy on Jan 30) means there are no remaining unbeaten teams in Division I and that Bob Knight's 1976 Indiana Hoosiers (32-0) continue as the last school to go an entire season without a loss.

Texas won 17 in a row to open this season (its best start since 1932-33) but an 0-2 week dropped the Longhorns to No. 6 in Monday's AP poll. Texas rebounded Wednesday night with a 95-83 home win over Texas Tech in its first game since losing the No. 1 ranking. Texas has won 16 straight home games and is 26-4 overall in the series since the former SWC rivals joined the Big 12 in 1996-97, including 14 straight wins in Austin over the Red Raiders. Texas is now 99-11 against in-state opponents during Rick Barnes' 11 seasons at the school. Texas hosts No. 24 Baylor on Saturday.

Kansas was CBB's preseason No. 1 and held the No. 1 spot for eight straight weeks, before losing 76-68 at Tennessee on January 10. The Jayhawks moved up to No. 2 this past Monday (behind Kentucky) and that night routed Missouri 84-65. It marked the team's 54th straight home win, the longest active streak in the nation. The Jayhawks are poised to re-claim the No. 1 spot next Monday but they'll have to win this coming Saturday at Manhattan, Kansas when they face the 11th-ranked Wildcats. Kansas St is 17-3 overall, including 11-1 SU (6-1 ATS) at home but the Jayhawks are 25-1 at Kansas State since 1984, after overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit to win 85-74 last year in Manhattan.

Villanova's 18-1 start matched the school's 1950-51 squad and the Wildcats' No. 3 ranking is the second-best in school history behind the 2006 team which made it to No. 2 in March of 2006. The Wildcats then beat Notre Dame 90-72 on Wednesday, moving to 19-1 for the first time in school history. They are the only Big East team unbeaten in conference play (8-0) and won't play again until February 2, a day after the next poll. The Wildcats are 19-1 for the first time and are the only Big East team unbeaten in conference play (8-0). No. 2 Kansas will likely ascend to No. 1 if it wins at No. 11 Kansas State on Saturday but if the Jayhawks lose, expect Villanova to claim the school's first-ever No. 1 ranking.

'Nova's 8-0 league mark tops the Big East with Syracuse (20-1 overall, 7-1 in conference) right behind them. Syracuse moved up to No. 4 in last Monday's poll and hosted then-No. 7 Georgetown that night. The Orange fell behind 14-0 at the start of the game but dominated the rest of the way, outscoring the Hoyas 73-42 for a 17-point win. It was Jim Boeheim's 819th career win (ranks 6th all-time) and marks the 13th consecutive season in which Syracuse has reached 20 wins. Boeheim has led his Syracuse teams to 20 wins or more in 32 of 34 seasons. It's quite remarkable that for years, Boeheim was not considered a great coach. Syracuse visits 8-12 DePaul on Saturday.

Michigan St also moved up one spot in the rankings on Monday, rounding out the nation's top-five teams. Michigan State 'escaped' at Ann Arbor on Tuesday, when Kalin Lucas hit a jumper with 3.5 seconds left to give the Spartans a 57-56 win over Michigan. The Spartans are 18-3 overall and 8-0 in conference play, which is the best conference start in school history. Michigan State hosts Northwestern this coming Saturday.

With Kentucky's loss, BYU owned the nation's longest active winning streak at 15 in a row but the Cougars couldn't escape "The Pit" unscathed on Wednesday night. No. 23 New Mexico beat No. 12 BYU 76-72 in a game which marked only the second time the Lobos and Cougars were both ranked when facing each other (back on February 17, 1973, No. 18 New Mexico beat No. 20 BYU 76-66 in Provo). The 19-3 Lobos are now 4-0 vs ranked opponents this season. BYU's 20-1 start had matched the best in school history (1977-78) and its No. 12 ranking in Monday's AP poll was the school's highest ranking since the Cougars were No. 11 in February of 1988.

I noted in last week's notes that the Pac 10 did not place a team in the top-25 and the same held true again this past Monday, for the third straight week. Among the category of "others receiving votes," one could find California with two votes or 45th, overall. Pac 10 teams are an abysmal 1-15 vs top-25 opponents in 2009-10 and the conference faces the very real possibility it won't receive an at-large bid to the "Big Dance." The last time the Pac 10 placed just one team in the NCAA field was 1978, when the tourney featured just 32 teams.

The Pac 10's woes could spell good news for a number of mid-major conferences in 2010. Mid-major schools received 12 at-large bids in 2006 (the year George Mason reached the Final 4) but in 2007 received just eight. That number dropped to six in 2008 and last year, only four non-Big six schools received at-large bids. Next week I'll take an early look at the potential 2010 NCAA field.

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