FILE – In this Feb. 4, 2021, file photo, Gonzaga’s Drew Timme, second from left, and Corey Kispert shake hands in the closing moments of Gonzaga’s 76-58 win over Pacific in an NCAA college basketball game in Stockton, Calif. Gonzaga coach Mark Few isn’t being asked questions about where his team should be seeded for next month’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Instead, the longtime coach is getting a different question with a little more than a month until Selection Sunday — does it make any sense for Gonzaga to compete in its conference tournament? (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File) Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

Gonzaga and Baylor lead an unchanged quartet atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while Kansas has returned to the rankings at No. 23 after a one-week absence.

Coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs received 59 of 64 first-place votes in Monday’s latest AP Top 25, while Scott Drew’s Bears claimed the other five. Those two teams have been 1-2 in all 13 polls this season and also headlined Saturday’s initial rankings for the committee that will select the field of 68 for the NCAA Tournament.

Next came three straight Big Ten teams, starting with No. 3 Michigan and No. 4 Ohio State in their same positions from last week, followed by Illinois in its return to the top 5 for the second time this season.

Houston, Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Villanova rounded out the top 10.

BOSTON COLLEGE: The school fired coach Jim Christian with three weeks left in his seventh season and his team 3-13.

The Eagles have just one win in 10 Atlantic Coast Conference games.

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Assistant Scott Spinelli will serve as interim head coach for the rest of the season.

“I know that Jim gave everything that he had into leading our program and mentoring our student-athletes,” said athletic director Pat Kraft, who inherited Christian from his predecessors. “Ultimately, the program is not headed in the right direction and though I hesitate to make a midseason coaching change in any sport, now is the right time for us to look forward.”

Under Christian, the Eagles were 78-132 and 26-94 in the ACC.

THE ACC announced Monday that Clemson’s men’s basketball game at Notre Dame scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues.

The conference says in a release that the postponement follows a positive test, subsequent quarantining, and contact tracing within the Clemson men’s program. The team is following ACC protocols. A makeup date has not been announced.

DUKE FRESHMAN Jalen Johnson is foregoing the rest of the Blue Devils’ season and declaring for the NBA draft. The school announced Johnson’s decision on Monday night.

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The 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward – considered by many a possible lottery prospect – was averaging 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds, though he missed three games and significant practice time with a December foot injury in an unexpectedly bumpy season for the Blue Devils. In a statement, the 19-year-old Johnson said the decision came after consulting with family and Coach Mike Krzyzewski to ensure he’s “100% healthy in preparation for the NBA draft.”

(16) FLORIDA STATE 81, (7) VIRGINIA 60: M.J. Walker scored 17 points and Florida State (12-3, 8-2 ACC) built a big first-half lead, beating Virginia (15-4, 11-2) in a showdown between the top two teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Tallahassee, Florida.

RaiQuan Gray had 15 points for the Seminoles, and Walker made five of Florida State’s season-high 13 3-pointers – on 24 attempts. Gray scored in double figures for the seventh straight game. Florida State has won 24 consecutive ACC home games dating to a victory over Clemson on Jan. 22, 2019.

Trey Murphy III had 13 points and Kihei Clark added 12 in the second half for Virginia, which had won four in a row.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

TOP 25: UConn is back in a familiar spot: at No. 1 in The Associated Press poll.

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For the ninth consecutive season, the Huskies have reached the pinnacle of the women’s AP Top 25, receiving 26 first-place votes from a 30-member national media panel.

Coach Geno Auriemma’s team beat previous No. 1 South Carolina in overtime a week ago in a 1-vs-2 matchup. The Gamecocks fell one spot to second in the poll. They received two first-place votes.

This is the third consecutive week there’s been a different No. 1 team in the poll. That hadn’t happened since 2012-13 when Stanford, UConn and Baylor each took a turn in the top spot. There haven’t been four straight weeks with different No. 1s since 2004.

UConn has now been No. 1 for at least one week every season since 2012-13. Stanford and South Carolina have the next longest active streaks, with two years.

FOOTBALL

CENTRAL FLORIDA: The school hired Gus Malzahn as its coach, a little more than two months after he was fired by Auburn.

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Malzahn was 68-35 in eight years with the Tigers, never having a losing season and going 39-27 in the Southeastern Conference. UCF scheduled an afternoon news conference to introduce its new coach.

UCF lost both its athletic director (Danny White) and football coach (Josh Heupel) to Tennessee last month. UCF hired Terry Mohajir as AD last week. Mohajir was the athletic director at Arkansas State during Malzahn’s one season at the Sun Belt school.

UCF has been one of the top teams in the American Athletic Conference since joining the league in 2013. The Knights have won the conference three times and played in three BCS or New Year’s six bowls.

SWIMMING AND DIVING

IOWA: Iowa says it won’t drop its women’s swimming and diving program, one of four sports the school had planned to eliminate due to budget concerns brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.

Members of the women’s swimming and diving team team filed a legal complaint against the school in September, arguing that a decision to eliminate their program violated a landmark gender equity law. In December, a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the school from cutting the program.

Iowa officials said Monday they continue to disagree with the claims in the lawsuit.

School officials announced in August they were dropping men’s and women’s swimming and diving, men’s gymnastics and men’s tennis at the end of their 2020-21 seasons. Iowa still plans to eliminate those other sports. At the time of the announcement, Iowa was estimating a $75 million deficit because of the pandemic. School officials have revised that estimated deficit to between $50 million and $60 million, thanks in part to the Big Ten’s decision to hold a modified version of a football season.


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