Chicago Sports

SAN DIEGO – Conversations throughout the marble-floored hotel lobby all at once turned to shortstop Trea Turner as reporters, agents and MLB team personnel checked their buzzing phones to see the news Monday afternoon: Turner and the Phillies had agreed to terms on an 11-year, $300 million deal.

Just like that, the seal on the shortstop market was broken as Turner became the first of the Big Four free agent shortstops off the board.

Now, it’s time for the Cubs to make a statement.

“Sometimes it just takes some deals at the top coming off,” Hoyer said Monday evening, the first day of winter meetings, “to sort of ‘break the ice’ and free people up to do deals.”

He added that did not see Turner coming off the board as an indication of how quickly the shortstop market may move, citing individual preferences and expectations.

The Cubs weren’t expected to make the first move on the free agent shortstop market, but they have been players in this year’s shortstop sweepstakes.

As of Monday evening, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts and Dansby Swanson were still available. Even before Turner committed to Philadelphia, the Cubs were showing the most interest in Bogaerts and Swanson.

Of the two, Bogaerts, a five-time Silver Slugger, comes with the more consistent track record at the plate. He’s hit .295 or better for the past four seasons. Swanson, a Gold Glover, has the stauncher defensive profile.

Meanwhile, Correa – who can’t be counted out – is expected to garner the largest financial commitment. He re-entered the free agent pool by opting out after the first year of the record-breaking three-year, 105.3 million deal that made him the highest-paid infielder by average annual value in MLB history.

“Being strong up the middle is really important,” Hoyer said, “And I think that’s obviously something we’re talking about a lot.”

Those “up the middle” positions include catcher and center field, other needs on the Cubs roster.

Hoyer said the Cubs have made “multiple” offers to free agents. He would not specify how many. The Cubs still plan on talking to other teams about possible trades, but at this point of the offseason, “almost all of [their] focus is on free agency.”

Hoyer has repeated his desire to “compete” in 2023. What better way to signal to the Cubs fan base – not to mention the rest of this year’s free agent class – that it’s not just talk, than to sign a big-name free agent.

The Cubs have the large market and financial flexibility to make it happen.

They also have a lot of work ahead of them.

A source confirmed the Cubs pursued former White Sox first baseman Jos? Abreu in free agency. Now that Abreu has signed with the Astros, inking a three-year contract worth about $60 million last week, the Cubs’ most obvious avenues for making a statement are on the shortstop and starting pitcher markets.

The latter has picked up speed in recent days.

On the heels of Jacob deGrom signing with the Rangers for five years, $185 million late last week, three more established starters agreed to new contracts in quick succession.

On Sunday, Mike Clevenger inked a one-year, $12 million contract with a mutual 2024 option with the White Sox. Monday morning, news broke that Clayton Kershaw was returning to the Dodgers (one-year, $20 million contract) and Justin Verlander had agreed to terms with the Mets (two-years, $86 million deal, with a vesting third-year option).

Your move, Cubs.

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NEW YORK — MacKenzie Entwistle might be the most well-liked player on the Blackhawks.

In the locker room after any practice or morning skate, there’s a good chance the 23-year-old forward will be laughing, joking or messing around with several of his teammates, lightening the mood while simultaneously bringing a competitive spirit.

So when Entwistle — after 21 straight games without a goal to start the season — finally buried a shot Wednesday against the Oilers, the Hawks were thrilled.

“First of all, it’s great to see ‘Twisty’ get rewarded,” Max Domi said that night. “He has been playing so hard, and he’s such a great kid. We all love him in here. He has been all over it, so it’s awesome to see him get on the board.”

To Entwistle himself, the goal was just a relief — and a bittersweet sweet one, at that, considering the Hawks still lost that game.

“It sucks not being able to contribute,” Entwistle said. “Not that I wasn’t contributing, but I want to get on the board, I want to help the team win. I felt like, [during] my first 20 games, I had a couple looks and they just weren’t going in. It’s nice to finally get on the board.”

But he did believe it could ignite some momentum for the fourth line, which he has recently been centering with Boris Katchouk and Reese Johnson on his wings. Katchouk had scored his own first goal of the season, after 11 straight goose eggs, earlier the same night.

“It’s about building blocks, and tonight was a big building block for us,” Entwistle added. “The first 20 games, Boris was hurt for a little bit and Reese was in and out of the lineup. For us to get a couple points tonight…is a big confidence-booster. Now it’s just about doing that night-in and night-out.”

As it turns out, he was right.

Over the Hawks’ last three games now, starting against the Oilers and continuing against the Rangers and Islanders this past weekend, the fourth line has been objectively their best. In fact, based on the advanced stats, they’ve enjoyed one of the better three-game stretches by any Hawks line this season.

During their 19 minutes of five-on-five ice time together, the Hawks have enjoyed a 20-12 advantage in shot attempts and 9-3 edge in scoring chances, outscored their opponents 3-1 and produced 80.3% of the expected goals.

By comparison, the Hawks’ second-best line during this stretch — the second line, centered by Domi — sports a measly 39.5% expected-goals ratio. The third line (centered by Jason Dickinson) is at 36.7% and the first line (centered by Jonathan Toews) is at 33.4%.

In the Hawks’ skid-busting win Saturday over the Rangers, Johnson tallied the much-needed first goal of the game, concluding an excellent first shift for the whole line. Coach Luke Richardson mentioned twice after the game, then a third time before Sunday’s game, how strongly that shift set the team’s tone.

“Entwistle’s line again gave us a great start,” Richardson said. “[They] just put the puck in, forechecked them, got it back to the point and shot the puck while getting bodies in front. We got a good tip. The other guys recognized it, realized it and followed suit. So that was a good example for the whole team, the way they played.”

Even in the ensuing loss Sunday, the fourth line outshot the Islanders 4-2 (at five-on-five) while the rest of the team was collectively buried in shots, 28-12.

The Hawks will likely need more contributions from their bottom-six forwards Tuesday. The Devils’ shockingly good 20-4-1 start has been driven by their depth, with a whopping 10 forwards already having recorded at least 12 points. By comparison, only three Hawks forwards (Patrick Kane, Domi and Toews) have reached that threshold.

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The clearest sign Matt Eberflus will succeed as Bears coach is his capacity to adjust. It’s refreshing after Matt Nagy’s stubbornness.

Eberflus has shown great flexibility with in-game tweaks throughout the season, but did his most impressive work during a 10-day break in October. He reworked his lineup, retooled the offense and redirected Justin Fields’ trajectory.

Now he needs to do it again.

As the Bears start their bye week, it’s time to reassess everything with an eye on what can be gained over the final four games. They’re meaningless in the standings as the Bears sit 3-10, but they’re purposeful in the big picture.

Any conversation about the future centers on Fields, and the bye lets him further heal from his separated shoulder and evaluate his decision making as a passer. It also enables Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy to analyze how to best use him.

One key issue facing the Bears is how to maximize Fields’ running ability without overusing him.

The Bears used tight end Cole Kmet on quarterback sneaks against the Dolphins, and in their loss to the Packers they ran two wildcat plays with running backs David Montgomery and Darrynton Evans.

“We are trying to go with that in the future to take some hits off of Justin,” Eberflus said. “Justin is going to take the plays when he can, of course, but we want to use him in [important] situations.”

The Bears won’t restrict Fields’ running, nor should they. It’s vital to his game. But they can be judicious about how often and when they expose him to getting drilled.

Eberflus and Getsy should also take a hard look at their wide receivers, especially newcomer Chase Claypool.

Claypool came over in a trade at the start of November and has now played five games. He has averaged 2.4 catches (on 4.4 targets) for 22.2 yards while playing 46% of the snaps.

How is anyone OK with that?

Everyone expected a little more, a little sooner when the Bears gave up a second-round pick — currently No. 34 overall — for him.

The Bears have shown zero urgency with Claypool, almost as if that’s a project for next season. But he’ll seek a contract extension in the coming offseason, and Fields needs help at receiver now.

Coming out of the bye week, Claypool needs to be fully integrated and getting close to 10 targets per game. That’s important at the moment and for the future, because Fields needs to build chemistry with him and the Bears need to be certain of what they have before committing to a massive contract.

Beyond Claypool, the Bears should allocate snaps to wide receivers most likely to help them in 2023.

Rookie Velus Jones tops that list, regardless of the Bears seeming hesitant to trust him on offense. He’ll learn best by getting in games.

Speaking of wide receivers, did everybody see N’Keal Harry’s 49-yard catch in the fourth quarter? Whoa. That’s Exhibit A on why he should play more. There’s a lot to like about the former first-round pick and his 6-foot-4, 225-pound frame, but the Bears haven’t given him a chance.

Reorient the passing game around Claypool, Harry and Jones and see what they can do.

On the offensive line, if the Bears are comfortable enough to play Alex Leatherwood in a rotation, they should be comfortable enough to put him out there for a full game.

He probably isn’t as good as 11-year veteran Riley Reiff now, but he could be eventually. Leatherwood was a first-round pick from Alabama last year and is under contract through 2024. Playing him over Reiff makes sense.

Eberflus was noncommittal about such a move Monday, but was pleased with how Leatherwood played and seemed amenable to making a future-focused roster decision.

It’s another example of his willingness to adapt, and the moves he makes coming out of the bye will be telling.

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Monday, December 5, 2022

CHICAGO PREP

Rochelle Zell at Northtown, 7:00

INDEPENDENT SCHOOL

North Shore at Lake Forest Academy, 6:00

LAKE SHORE ATHLETIC

ACERO-Cruz at Wolcott, 6:30

NOBLE LEAGUE – BLUE

Noble Street at DRW Prep, 7:00

PUBLIC LEAGUE WHITE-WEST

Ogden at Wells, 5:00

NON CONFERENCE

Bulls Prep at Loyola, 5:30

Calvary (Normal) at Lowpoint-Washburn, 7:00

Carver at UIC Prep, 5:00

Chicago Math & Science at Northside, 5:00

Christian Life at Westlake Christian, 7:30

Cristo Rey at Washington, 7:00

EPIC at Manley, 5:00

Foreman at Raby, 5:00

Gage Park at Hancock, 5:00

Gardner-So. Wilmington at Woodland, 7:00

Golder at Excel-Englewood, 5:30

Grant at McHenry, 7:00

Hiawatha at Our Lady Sacred Heart, 5:30

Holy Trinity at UC-Woodlawn, 5:00

Horizon-McKinley at Hinsdale Adventist, 5:00

Horizon-Southwest at Islamic Foundation, 6:00

Ida Crown at Beacon, 7:00

Julian at Roosevelt, 5:00

Lake View at North Grand, 5:00

LaMoille at Henry-Senachwine, 7:00

Marian Central at Rockford Lutheran, 7:00

Muchin at Universal, 7:00

Rochelle at Dixon, 7:00

Sandburg at Thornridge, 6:00

Serena at Dwight, 5:30

Stagg at Shepard, 6:30

Thornwood at Dyett, 5:00

Vernon Hills at Grayslake Central, 7:00

Zion-Benton at New Trier, 6:30

HALL

Bureau Valley vs. Pontiac, 5:30

LaSalle-Peru vs. Marquette, 7:00

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Bears receiver Equanimeous St. Brown received an apology text from Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander on Sunday — but didn’t know what it was for.

Monday morning, he found out. In a postgame interview, Alexander — who intercepted Justin Fields’ pass when he jumped in front of St. Brown with about three minutes to play — called the receiver a “scrub.”

The two were teammates together in Green Bay for four years, and were in the same draft class.

“I mean he had already apologized for it, so it was probably heat of the moment for him,” St. Brown said Monday. “I don’t take anything personal. Yeah, it is what it is.”

He said Alexander is about more than the one comment.

“I know how he is as a person,” St. Brown said. “He’s a great player. A lot of DBs talk a lot. He apologized, it is what it is. People talk [crap].”

St. Brown had three catches for 85 yards Sunday, including a 56-yarder with Alexander in coverage. That’s what prompted Alexander’s comments.

“Man, he a scrub,” he said in the locker room after the game. “I can’t believe I let him catch that on me. But hat’s off to him because he did make a good catch.”

St. Brown was criticized by both Fields and head coach Matt Eberflus for not fighting his way out of a curl route late in the game, which led to Alexander intercepting the pass. At the least, they said, he needed to try to keep the pass from becoming an interception.

“I’ve got to try to get that ball out sooner,” St. Brown said.

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A jury awarded more than $2.6 million to three former Lake County employees who claimed they were fired by County Clerk Erin Cartwright Weinstein because they supported her opponent in the 2016 election.

One of Weinstein’s first acts after taking office in December 2016, after defeating incumbent clerk Keith Brin, was to fire three of Brin’s former top deputies — Michelle Higgins, Tiffany Deram and Joshua Smothers.

While Weinstein and the county attorneys offered multiple reasons for terminating the three during six days of trial testimony, the verdict returned Friday showed jurors believed Weinstein fired the workers because they weren’t on her team, attorney Paul Vickrey said.

“I think the jury was sending a message,” Vickrey said Monday, noting jurors’ award increased the amount of punitive damages for each of the three plaintiffs to $75,000 from the $50,000 they had requested.

“Dedicated, competent civil servants should not have to worry about losing their jobs every four years for exercising their First Amendment rights on their own personal time,” Vickrey said.

In an email response to questions Monday, Weinstein denied the firings were tied to the workers’ support for Brin.

“I am very disappointed in the verdict,” Weinstein wrote. “I would never terminate someone’s employment for supporting my opponent. I did what I believed was in the best interest of my administration. The attorney general’s office is currently working on post-trial motions, and reviewing the possibility of an appeal.”

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Kwame Raoul declined to comment on the case.

Higgins, Deram and Smothers had actively campaigned for Brin in the months before they were fired. Weinstein, her husband or Weinstein’s top deputy Donna Hamm had seen the three workers marching in parades alongside Brin or at other political events throughout the campaign, according to records in the case.

Higgins had worked in the clerk’s office since 1985 and was chief of the criminal courts division when she was fired in December 2016. Deram, who worked in the office since 1998, was deputy chief of the records division. Smothers, who had worked for the clerk since 2007, was supervisor of the Round Lake branch court. The three had argued that their jobs did not involve making policy decisions and that political alignment with the clerk was not a valid job requirement.

In depositions, Weinstein admitted that she had consulted the county Human Resources department about firing the employees the week before she took office, and that she did not review their personnel files before telling them to clean out their desks, according to court records.

Including punitive damages, compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages and pension, Higgins was awarded $1.1 million; Deram received $1 million; and Smothers $542,000. Weinstein won a second term as clerk in 2020.

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SACRAMENTO – Billy Donovan gave his players Monday off.

The length of the six-game road trip warranted that. The play definitely didn’t.

But still, the Bulls coach was hoping when they do reconvene in the Tuesday practice, there’s a refocus on toughness.

According to one Bulls veteran player, there’s definitely at least going to be some tough love going on.

“There’s going to be tough conversations, there’s going to be words said,” guard Zach LaVine said, when asked about turning the 9-14 start around. “Sometimes you need that. From top to bottom we’ve all got to try and figure it out, because no one is going to dig us out of this hole besides us.”

And it is a hole.

Not only being a season-low five games under .500, but sitting 12th in the Eastern Conference, with only Charlotte, Detroit and Orlando looking up at them.

“I talked to them prior to training camp starting, and I knew this was going to be a hard year for our team,” Donovan said. “This is really where you find out – because we have to dig ourselves out of this – that no one is helping us. Players, coaches, we’ve got to figure this out. They were all like, ‘We’re going to handle the adversity.’ Well, these are the moments that everybody has got to be able to work together, pull together, and pull yourself out of it.”

That’s the disappointing part with this team – it looked like they would take a positive and run with it several times this season.

There was a big home win over Toronto last month, only to be followed up by four-straight losses. Then in one of the more signature wins of the season, the Bulls beat Boston 121-107, following that up with an unexpected win in Milwaukee to start the six-game road trip.

Even after the loss in Oklahoma City, they rallied a game later, beating former Bull Lauri Markkanen and the Utah Jazz. Three wins in four games, and all over quality teams.

That’s about when the trip went off the rails.

Devin Booker dropped 51 on them in just three quarters of work in a blowout loss in Phoenix, and then they dug huge holes against Golden State and Sacramento, only to see comebacks fall short in the second half.

That’s why it was an obviously frustrated group in the Kings visiting locker room.

“Zach, DeMar [DeRozan], Vooch [Nikola Vucevic], Goran [Dragic], Andre [Drummond] … you’ve got a lot of veteran players that have been in the league for a while,” Donovan said. “They take a lot of pride, and they’re competitive guys. When you’re not winning, I understand that [frustration].”

But now it’s how will they use it?

DeRozan wanted to make sure it would be used correctly.

“I’ve got the most confidence in the world that once it clicks for us, it’s going to click,” DeRozan said. “It won’t matter who we’re playing. That’s the beauty of sports, life. You get down, the true character shows up. Who do you wanna be? It’s up to us to control that narrative going forward. You know it’s supposed to be frustrating, supposed to hurt, supposed to suck, supposed to be all these things, and now how do we channel that and challenge ourselves to come out of this and make something out of it?

“All these guys show frustration, show anger, and that’s a great sign. We’ve got to channel that in the right direction, the start of games, second quarter, third quarter, closing out games. Once we see we can do it and it gives us a belief, we’ll be fine.”

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Houston and Texas remain firmly entrenched atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while preseason No. 1 North Carolina has dropped out entirely after a fourth straight loss.

The Cougars earned 37 of 62 first-place votes in Monday’s poll, extending the program’s first stay at No. 1 since the “Phi Slama Jama” days in the 1980s for another week. Houston (8-0) beat Norfolk State and Saint Mary’s in its first week at the top.

“I don’t dwell on it,” coach Kelvin Sampson said last week about the No. 1 ranking. “We’re not running around here pushing our chest out, thinking we’re something we’re not.”

The Longhorns received 14 first-place votes. No. 3 Virginia got three votes and No. 4 Purdue got the remaining eight.

Connecticut (9-0) climbed to No. 5, the program’s highest ranking since early in the 2011-12 season. Other than the top five, there are three other teams in the AP Top 25 that entered Monday undefeated (No. 11 Auburn, No. 13 Maryland and No. 23 Mississippi State).

SWIFT FALL

North Carolina is only the sixth team to go from preseason No. 1 to unranked since at least the 1961-62 season, most recently with Michigan State during the 2019-20 season.

Of that group, the Tar Heels had the swiftest exit from the poll to start the season (four weeks) except for UCLA in 1965-66. The Bruins fell out of the poll after just three weeks back when only 10 teams were ranked.

Ranked No. 18 last week, the Tar Heels (5-4) lost their fourth straight game over the weekend at Virginia Tech while playing without banged-up big man Armando Bacot. They appeared on a single ballot this week from the 62-member panel that votes on the AP Top 25.

“I told them also that I’m not panicked, I’m not any of that,” coach Hubert Davis said afterward. “I’m convinced we’re going to be a great basketball team by the end of the season.”

Last year’s Tar Heels were on the bubble to even make the NCAA Tournament well into February in Davis’ debut season. They went on a final-month tear all the way to the NCAA championship game before falling to Kansas.

THE TOP TIER

Kansas climbed to No. 6, followed by three Southeastern Conference teams in Tennessee, Alabama and Arkansas. For the Volunteers and Crimson Tide, it marked their first appearances inside the top 10 this year. Arizona rounded out the top 10, falling six spots after a loss at Utah.

RISING

No. 13 Maryland had the biggest jump of the week, vaulting nine spots after wins against Louisville and Illinois last week in the Terrapins’ first year under Kevin Willard. That marks the program’s highest ranking since pushing into the top 10 during the 2019-20 season.

Tennessee was next up with a six-spot climb, while No. 11 Auburn rose four spots.

In all, 13 teams climbed from last week.

SLIDING

Creighton had the week’s biggest fall, tumbling 14 spots to No. 21 after losing at Texas and at home to Nebraska last week.

No. 12 Baylor fell six spots after a loss to Marquette, though the Bears responded by beating Gonzaga on Friday in a rematch of the 2021 NCAA championship game won by Baylor.

The Zags, now No. 18, fell four spots to their lowest ranking since checking in at No. 20 on Christmas Day in 2017.

In all, four teams slid from last week.

STATUS QUO

Beyond the top three, No. 25 Ohio State remained in place after a tough loss at No. 15 Duke last week.

WELCOME

No. 23 Mississippi State and No. 24 TCU were the new additions to the poll, with the Bulldogs (8-0) earning their first AP Top 25 ranking under first-year coach Chris Jans since January 2019.

The Horned Frogs were ranked 14th and 15th, respectively, in the first two polls before falling out for two weeks.

FAREWELL (FOR NOW)

In addition to UNC, Michigan State (No. 20) fell out after losses to Notre Dame and Northwestern.

CONFERENCE WATCH

The SEC led the way with six ranked teams, including No. 16 Kentucky. The Big Ten and Big 12 each had five ranked teams, followed by two each for the Atlantic Coast, Pac-12 and Big East conferences.

The American Athletic, West Coast and Mountain West conferences each had one.

THE TOP 25

1. Houston (37 first-place votes) 8-0

2. Texas (14) 6-0

3. Virginia (3) 7-0

4. Purdue (8) 8-0

5. UConn 9-0

6. Kansas 8-1

7. Tennessee 7-1

8. Alabama 7-1

9. Arkansas 7-1

10. Arizona 7-1

11. Auburn 8-0

12. Baylor 6-2

13. Maryland 8-0

14. Indiana 7-1

15. Duke 8-2

16. Kentucky 6-2

17. Illinois 6-2

18. Gonzaga 5-3

19. UCLA 7-2

20. Iowa St. 7-1

21. Creighton 6-3

22. San Diego St. 6-2

23. Mississippi St. 8-0

24. TCU 6-1

25. Ohio St. 6-2

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Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer stands atop The Associated Press women’s basketball poll with the most appearances all time, breaking a tie with the late Pat Summitt.

VanDerveer’s Cardinal remained No. 2 behind top-ranked South Carolina on Monday, giving her 619 weeks with one of her teams in the AP Top 25: 592 weeks with Stanford and 27 with Ohio State when she was in charge of that program. Summitt’s 618 weeks in the poll all came with Tennessee.

The Hall of Fame coach downplayed the achievement.

“Fortunate to be here for 36 years. We have great players and have been successful,” VanDerveer said. “I don’t pay attention to (records). People bring it up and I’m like ‘OK, great.'”

Louisville fell out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2016, a span of 127 weeks. That was the fifth longest active streak. The Cardinals (5-4) started the season ranked seventh and have struggled to find consistency this year, dropping their last two games to Ohio State and Middle Tennessee.

They are the third preseason top 10 team to fall out of the poll, joining Texas (this week) and Tennessee (last week). Before this year, only 10 preseason top 10 teams had fallen out of the rankings at some point during the year since the AP Top 25 became a writers’ poll in 1994-95.

Even more rare has been a preseason top five school dropping out. Only five teams had done that prior to this year and none before January. Tennessee was the last to do it, starting the 2015-16 season at No. 4 before falling out of the rankings Feb. 22.

Now Texas and Tennessee are both out before the New Year.

“Two factors are at play here. One of them is more parity with more good teams,” said Rebecca Lobo, the former UConn star, ESPN analyst and Top 25 voter. “The other factor at play is the transfer portal. I think those three teams all have multiple players who start who weren’t in their program a year ago. It’s a reflection that you can’t just assemble teams and right away expect them to be good. I think all those teams will in the poll by the end of the season.”

Ohio State moved up to No. 3 after, the Buckeyes’ best ranking since Nov. 30, 2009, when they also were third. Indiana and Notre Dame round out the top five.

UConn fell three spots to sixth with Virginia Tech, North Carolina, N.C. State and Iowa State finishing off the top 10 teams. The No. 7 ranking for the Hokies is the best ever for the school.

RANKED RAZORBACKS

Arkansas (10-0) vaulted into the poll at No. 21. The Razorbacks have a difficult month ahead with games against No. 18 Creighton and a tournament in San Diego that has Oregon, South Florida and Ohio State.

“I do think we know a lot about our team,” Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said.

He was also happy his team made the poll as every sports team on campus that has played this year has been ranked, including football, men’s basketball, soccer and cross country.

“We didn’t want to be the team that stops that streak,” he said.

FALLING LOUISVILLE

The Cardinals had been ranked every week since Jan. 11, 2016. That was the same season they started the year at No. 8 before falling out on Nov. 30, the earliest a top 10 team had fallen out of the poll until last week. Things got better for Louisville as the Cardinals finished that regular season 24-6 and went 15-1 in the ACC.

HISTORIC WEEK

With Louisville, Texas and Tennessee all out of the Top 25, it marks only the second time in the poll’s history that none of those three teams were ranked. The only other time was the first-ever poll in 1976.

COMING AND GOING

Oklahoma and Kansas State also returned to the Top 25 this week, coming in at No. 23 and No. 24. Marquette dropped out after losing to Seton Hall.

THE TOP 25

1. South Carolina (29 first-place votes) 8-0

2. Stanford 10-1

3. Ohio St. 8-0

4. Indiana 9-0

5. Notre Dame 7-1

6. UConn 6-1

7. Virginia Tech 8-0

8. NC State 7-1

8. North Carolina 6-1

10. Iowa St. 6-1

11. LSU 9-0

12. Arizona 7-0

13. UCLA 8-1

14. Michigan 9-0

15. Utah 7-0

16. Iowa 6-3

17. Oregon 6-1

18. Creighton 7-1

19. Baylor 6-2

20. Maryland 7-3

21. Arkansas 10-0

22. Gonzaga 7-2

23. Oklahoma 7-1

24. Kansas St. 8-1

25. Villanova 7-2

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