Tennessee breaks up ACC trio; James Madison moves in

Tennessee broke up the ACC trio at the top of the AP women's basketball poll and James Madison earned a Top 25 spot for the first time in 19 years. <br/><br/>Rutgers and Wisconsin-Green Bay also rejoined

Monday, January 29th 2007, 1:35 pm

By: News On 6

Tennessee broke up the ACC trio at the top of the AP women's basketball poll and James Madison earned a Top 25 spot for the first time in 19 years.

Rutgers and Wisconsin-Green Bay also rejoined the Top 25 on Monday, though neither had been out as long as James Madison. The Dukes (17-2) were last ranked in the final poll of the 1987-88 season, when they were 14th.

``It's definitely been a goal of ours,'' James Madison coach Kenny Brooks said. ``This is something we've wanted to do, to be among the elite programs in the country. It's quite an accomplishment and we're extremely proud.''

Tennessee moved up one spot to third to replace defending national champion Maryland, which slipped to fourth after an 84-71 loss to North Carolina on Sunday. Duke and North Carolina remained 1-2.

Duke, North Carolina and Maryland had held the top three places in one combination or another for five straight weeks. Only twice before had a conference ever held the top three spots; the Southeastern Conference had done it twice, but only for one week each time and never this late in the season.

Victories over Tennessee and Florida State kept Duke (21-0) firmly entrenched at No. 1 for the third straight week. The Blue Devils received 41 of 50 first-place votes from a national media panel and had 1,241 points _ 32 more than North Carolina (23-0). The Tar Heels received the nine other first-place votes.

Tennessee (19-2) rebounded from its 74-70 loss to Duke to defeat No. 15 Vanderbilt and Alabama. The Lady Vols' only other loss was to North Carolina.

Maryland (21-2) was No. 1 in the first 10 polls, then dropped to third after losing to Duke.

Ohio State remained fifth, while Connecticut, LSU and Stanford each climbed one spot. Oklahoma fell three places to ninth after its 26-game winning streak against Big 12 opponents was snapped by a 54-52 loss to Texas A&M.

Purdue routed Northwestern in its only game last week and jumped two places to 10th.

George Washington stayed at No. 11 and Arizona State dropped two spots to 12th after an overtime loss at home to Stanford.

Baylor was 13th, Georgia 14th and Vanderbilt 15th, followed by Marquette, Bowling Green, Texas A&M, Louisville and Middle Tennessee.

California, Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin-Green Bay and James Madison completed the Top 25. Michigan State, Mississippi and Texas dropped out.

Rutgers (12-6) began the season at No. 12 and was ranked for five weeks, dropping out after consecutive losses to Duke and DePaul. But the Scarlet Knights have won seven of their last eight and 10 of their last 12, including a 63-57 victory over then-No. 23 Michigan State on Sunday.

Wisconsin-Green Bay (17-3) was last ranked in the final poll of the 2004-05 season. The Phoenix have won 14 straight and their only losses have been to Kansas State, Marquette and DePaul _ by a total of 10 points.

James Madison has matched the best 19-game start in the program's history, building on last season's 24-7 record with the nation's most experienced team in terms of games started. Brooks has four four-year starters in his lineup, while junior Tamera Young has started for three years.

The Dukes played in the WNIT last season after losing to Old Dominion in the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Now they're trying to take the next step: the school's first NCAA tournament bid since 1996.

``We've been talking about that ever since these kids got here,'' said Brooks, in his fifth season at his alma mater, where he played guard under Lefty Driesell. ``We've taken these steps every year. As freshmen, they were learning how to win. As sophomores, they won 18 games. Last year, we took a necessary step in getting to postseason play.

``But even though we got to the WNIT, we were disappointed because we want to go to the NCAA tournament. These kids are as focused as anybody.''

Michigan State, which lost to Penn State last week before falling to Rutgers, dropped out after being ranked all season. Mississippi, 22nd last week, lost to Georgia and Mississippi State. The Rebels had been ranked for two weeks.

Losses to Baylor and Texas Tech knocked Texas out of the Top 25. The Longhorns, who've had two different stints in the poll this season, had been 24th.