Tennessee falls 11 places in coaches' poll; UNC remains No. 1

Dec 15, 2008 - 6:21 PM MCLEAN, Virginia (Ticker) -- Following a stunning upset loss, Tennessee has plummeted in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll.

The Volunteers fell 11 spots to No. 19 in the latest college basketball rankings released Monday, two days after suffering an 88-72 loss to unranked Temple.

Tennessee (6-2) never led in the game and allowed Temple's Dionte Christmas to score 26 of his 35 points in the second half.

"We're ranked too high," Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl said after the loss. "We have a long way to go."

North Carolina (9-0) remained the unanimous No. 1, collecting all 31 first-place votes and 775 overall points from a panel of Division I coaches.

The Tar Heels have won each of their first nine games by double digits, and their smallest margin of victory was a 15-point triumph over then-No. 8 Notre Dame on November 26.

Big East Conference powerhouses Connecticut (8-0) and Pittsburgh (10-0) remained second and third, respectively, while Big 12 rivals Oklahoma (10-0) and Texas (8-1) rounded out the top five.

Duke (8-1) climbed one spot to sixth while Xavier (9-0) moved up two spots into a seventh-place tie with Gonzaga (7-1), which dropped three places following Sunday night's 69-64 loss to unranked Arizona.

Louisville (6-1) and Wake Forest (9-0) completed the top 10, followed by Syracuse (9-0), UCLA (6-2), Georgetown (7-1), Notre Dame (7-2) and Villanova (10-1).

Ohio State (6-0) climbed five spots to 16th, followed by Arizona State (8-1), Purdue (8-2), Tennessee and Davidson (8-1).

Memphis (5-2) dropped six places to 21st, followed by Michigan State (6-2) and Marquette (8-1). New to the poll are No. 24 Baylor (8-1) and 25th-ranked Clemson (10-0).

Defending national champion Kansas and Miami both fell from the rankings.