Duke back at No. 1 in coaches' poll

• Tweet

MCLEAN, Va., Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Duke returns to the No. 1 spot in the USA Today Coaches' basketball poll after an absence of one week, during which top-ranked Louisville and Indiana lost.

Duke (16-1) was atop the poll for four weeks but fell to No. 3 last week after a loss to North Carolina State. Even ranked third, the Blue Devils had seven first-place votes a week ago.

This week Duke is listed first on 20 of the 31 ballots in leading the rankings. Kansas (16-1) receives eight first-place votes and moves from fourth to No. 2 while Michigan (17-1) is first on one ballot and winds up third, narrowly ahead of No. 4 Syracuse (17-1), which gets the other two mentions for No. 1.

Louisville (16-2), at No. 1 for a week, slips to fifth place and Indiana (16-2) goes from second to eighth. They had company in the loss column, with 12 of last week's Top 25 suffering at least one loss. Illinois, Nevada-Las Vegas and UCLA all drop out of the rankings and San Diego State, which lost twice, plummets from 14th to No. 25. Missouri matches Indiana's six-place fall.

Arizona (16-1) improves one place to sixth and Florida (14-2) is up two to seventh, ahead of Indiana. Butler (16-2) goes from 13th to No. 9 while Gonzaga (17-2), which lost to Butler, drops two places to 10th.

Michigan State (16-3) jumps six spots to 11th but Creighton (17-2) slips two to No. 12. Kansas State (15-2) improves five places to No. 13, with Minnesota (15-3) at 14th and Ohio State (13-4) coming in 15th.

Virginia Commonwealth (16-3) continues moving up and is 16th this week while New Mexico (16-2) is right behind at No. 17. North Carolina State (15-3) is voted 18th with Oregon (16-2), unranked a week ago, in at 19th. Cincinnati (16-3) comes in 20th.

Previously unranked Wichita State (17-2) takes the No. 21 spot, with Missouri (13-4) falling to 22nd. Notre Dame (15-3) sits in 23rd and Mississippi (15-2), the other new entry this week, is No. 24. San Diego State (14-4) completes the Top 25.

Keys games this week include Monday's Cincinnati game at Syracuse, Kansas traveling to Kansas State Tuesday and New Mexico playing at San Diego State Saturday. The week caps with Michigan State visiting Indiana Sunday.