Connecticut remains No. 1 in The Associated Press' poll for another week with a showdown against No. 2 Duke looming on Tuesday night. Both teams had the week off to take exams and prepare for the game. The Huskies (10-0) were the unanimous choice again, with Duke receiving all 36 second-place votes. With most teams on an exam break, there wasn't too much change in the top 25.
Here are five things to know about this week's top 25:TOP TEAM SHOWDOWN: Tuesday will mark the 52nd meeting between the top two teams in the poll, with the No. 1 team holding a 31-20 edge in the series. UConn has been in that game 17 times, including going 10-1 as the top-ranked team. Duke has played in this game six times, going 3-3. The two teams met once as the top two teams in the nation in 2003, with No. 2 UConn beating top-ranked Duke 77-65.
SEC DOMINANCE: It's been a banner start of the season for the SEC. With five teams ranked in the top 25, including three in the top 10, the conference has been dominant so far this season. The SEC teams in the poll are a combined 47-1, with LSU having the lone loss at No. 7 Louisville. Throw in Texas A&M, which just fell out of the poll, and an undefeated Arkansas squad, and the SEC may be the toughest conference in the country.
"I've seen some of the games on TV and there definitely are a lot of really good teams in this conference," Kentucky coach Matthew Mitchell said. "It's going to be a real good conference season when we start playing each other."
The conference is trying to end its long drought of not making the Final Four since Tennessee won back-to-back titles in 2007-08.
STAYING PUT: With most programs on exam break, the top 10 teams in the poll remained the same with Tennessee, Notre Dame, Kentucky, Stanford, Louisville, Maryland, Baylor and South Carolina following UConn and Duke. Florida State entered the rankings for the first time this season at No. 24.
TEST TIME: Fourteenth-ranked North Carolina will face South Carolina in the annual matchup in Myrtle Beach on Wednesday. Dawn Staley has the 10th-ranked Gamecocks off to a great start, scoring more than 70 points in seven of their nine games this season. This will be the first real test for Staley's squad. North Carolina has seen a lot of growth out of its talented freshmen so far. This will be a good chance for them to see how far they've developed before conference play begins.
FREE FALLING: Penn State made the biggest drop in the poll after losing to a talented South Dakota State team on the road. The Lady Lions fell five places to No. 17. It wasn't all bad for Coquese Washington's squad, which rebounded with a victory against then-No. 24 Texas A&M on Sunday. The loss knocked the Aggies out of the poll.
