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NCAA Basketball Rankings: North Carolina Rises Into Top Five Of Coaches' Poll

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CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 29: Teammates Tyler Zeller #44 and Reggie Bullock #35 of the North Carolina Tar Heels react to a play during their game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at the Dean Smith Center on January 29, 2012 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Kentucky received all 31 first-place votes in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll for a third straight week.

Kentucky refused to relinquish any part of its strangle hold on the top spot in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, receiving all 31 first place votes for the third week in a row.

UK was followed by Syracuse, Ohio State and Missouri, who held onto the top four spots after a handful of impressive wins last week. North Carolina took over the No. 5 spot from Duke, which dropped four spots after its home loss to Miami on Sunday. The Blue Devils and Tar Heels will square off in Chapel Hill on Wednesday night for the first of two meetings.

UNC was followed by Baylor in sixth, while Florida and Murray State, the only remaining undefeated team in Division I, were tied in seventh. Kansas, which fell to Missouri on Saturday, rounded out the top ten.

Here's the full poll:

Division I Coaches' Top 25 Poll

Rank Team Record Votes Previous
1 Kentucky(31) 23-1 775 1
2 Syracuse 23-1 740 2
3 Ohio State 20-3 715 3
4 Missouri 21-2 673 4
5 North Carolina 20-3 639 6
6 Baylor 21-2 635 6
7 Florida 19-4 536 11
7 Murray State 23-0 536 9
9 Duke 19-4 525 5
10 Kansas 18-5 480 8
11 Georgetown 18-4 454 14
12 Michigan State 18-5 444 10
13 Saint Mary's 22-2 382 16
14 San Diego State 20-3 332 17
15 Creighton 21-3 316 12
16 UNLV 21-4 302 13
17 Florida State 16-6 247 24
18 Mississippi State 18-5 241 19
19 Marquette 19-5 239 15
20 Virginia 18-4 192 18
21 Harvard 20-2 153 23
22 Wisconsin 18-6 133 20
23 Indiana 18-6 93 20
23 Louisville 18-5 93 25
25 Michigan 17-7 79 22
Others Receiving Votes: Notre Dame 19, Gonzaga 14, New Mexico 13, Iowa State 10, Nevada 9, Southern Miss 9, Long Beach State 8, Connecticut 6, Middle Tennessee 6, Temple 6, California 5, Vanderbilt 5, Wichita State 5, Saint Louis 2, Virginia Commonwealth 2, Cleveland State 1, Drexel 1

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

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