By Jim O'Connell
The Associated Press

Connecticut is back on top. The No. 1 team in The Associated Press men's college basketball Top 25 changed for the fourth straight week, with the Huskies moving up one place Monday to reclaim their preseason spot.

The Huskies (7-1) were also No. 1 for the first two polls of the regular season. But their loss to Georgia Tech in the Preseason NIT led to a revolving door of top teams; Kansas and Florida also took turns leading the poll.

The Gators were No. 1 last week, but lost two straight games.

UConn didn't even receive the most first-place votes from the national media panel, outpolled 26-21 in that category by No. 2 Kentucky. But Connecticut had a total of 1,685 points, 67 more than the Wildcats (5-0).

Kentucky is No. 1 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, followed by UConn.

"The way it is today, it's not even parity," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said Monday. "I disagree with those who say there are 30 to 40 teams that can win the title - it's still probably in the 10-to-12 neighborhood. But we have to wait to see who evolves out of the group."

Once again, Connecticut has the top team in both AP polls; its women's team has been No. 1 since the preseason.

Florida (5-2) dropped 14 spots to No. 15 after losses to Maryland and Louisville, which both moved into the rankings Monday. They replace Michigan State and Iowa.

Duke (6-1) received one first-place vote and was No. 3, the first of three straight teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference. No. 4 North Carolina (6-0) was first on six ballots, while No. 5 Georgia Tech (8-0) - unranked in the preseason - had 14 first-place votes.

Kansas, which fell from No. 1 after losing to Stanford, was sixth, followed by Arizona, Oklahoma, Stanford and Missouri.

Arizona and Stanford each received two first-place votes, bringing the total of teams with No. 1 votes to seven.

Saint Joseph's and Texas tied for 11th. Gonzaga, Wake Forest, Florida, Cincinnati, Purdue, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Louisville rounded out the Top 20.

The last five ranked teams were Illinois, Wisconsin, Marquette, Dayton and Maryland.

Connecticut closes out December with home games against Iona, Ball State and Massachusetts. The team's first six games of 2004 send the Huskies on the road three times, including matchups with ranked teams Oklahoma, North Carolina and Pittsburgh.

"I'll know a lot more about us after those games. I'll know then if we're still one of those teams that can win it," Calhoun said. "I don't feel any different about my team than I did at the beginning of the season. We have enough talent."

Louisville (4-1), which beat Florida 73-65 Saturday, moved back into the rankings at No. 20 after a two-week absence. Maryland (6-2), which beat the Gators 69-68 in overtime, is ranked for the first time this season.

Michigan State, No. 3 in the preseason poll, fell from No. 21 after dropping to 3-4 with Saturday's 79-74 loss to Kentucky. The Spartans' other losses were also against ranked teams - Kansas, Oklahoma and Duke - and the team's start is its worst since the 1995-96 season, Tom Izzo's first as coach.

AP-CS-12-15-03 1757EST

AP Top 25

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 14, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

	Record	Pts	Pvs
1. Connecticut (21)	7-1	1,685	2
2. Kentucky (26)	5-0	1,618	8
3. Duke (1)	6-1	1,535	4
4. North Carolina (6)	6-0	1,507	7
5. Georgia Tech (14)	8-0	1,418	10
6. Kansas	5-1	1,409	5
7. Arizona (2)	4-1	1,407	9
8. Oklahoma	7-0	1,217	11
9. Stanford (2)	5-0	1,081	13
10. Missouri	3-1	1,057	3
11. Saint Joseph's	7-0	1,050	12
11. Texas	5-1	1,050	6
13. Gonzaga	7-1	987	17
14. Wake Forest	5-0	914	15
15. Florida	5-2	863	1
16. Cincinnati	4-0	648	18
17. Purdue	7-1	647	16
18. Pittsburgh	7-0	544	20
19. Syracuse	3-1	535	19
20. Louisville	4-1	406	-
21. Illinois	6-2	398	14
22. Wisconsin	6-1	367	23
23. Marquette	6-1	303	22
24. Dayton	8-0	183	25
25. Maryland	6-2	176	-

Others receiving votes: Vanderbilt 80, Michigan St. 68, Iowa 40, Mississippi St. 31, Providence 26, Auburn 23, Florida St. 20, BYU 15, South Carolina 10, Virginia 10, N.C. State 9, UCLA 9, Texas Tech 8, Oregon 7, Utah 7, Boston College 6, Creighton 5, Notre Dame 5, Murray St. 4, Oklahoma St. 4, George Washington 2, Rhode Island 2, Boise St. 1, Detroit 1, Lafayette 1, Memphis 1.

USA Today/ESPN Top 25

The top 25 teams with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 14, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:

	Record	Pts	Pvs
1. Kentucky (23)	5-0	744	2
2. Connecticut (4)	7-1	690	4
3. Duke	6-1	668	5
4. North Carolina (1)	6-0	625	8
5. Arizona	4-1	605	9
6. Georgia Tech (3)	8-0	593	10
7. Kansas	5-1	562	7
8. Oklahoma	7-0	535	11
9. Wake Forest	5-0	492	12
10. Texas	5-1	489	6
11. Stanford	5-0	473	13
12. Saint Joseph's	7-0	424	15
13. Florida	5-2	397	1
14. Missouri	3-1	386	4
15. Gonzaga	7-1	367	18
16. Cincinnati	4-0	324	17
17. Purdue	7-1	301	16
18. Wisconsin	6-1	249	19
19. Illinois	6-2	218	14
20. Pittsburgh	7-0	202	23
21. Syracuse	3-1	164	21t
22. Louisville	4-1	144	25
23. Marquette	6-1	118	21t
24. Dayton	8-0	87	24
25. Michigan State	3-4	41	20

Others receiving votes: Maryland 34, Texas Tech 21, Creighton 16, Vanderbilt 16, Oklahoma State 13, Florida State 11, South Carolina 11, Auburn 8, Iowa 6, Brigham Young 5, North Carolina State 5, Colorado 4, Notre Dame 4, Oregon 4, Southern Illinois 4, Murray State 3, Tennessee 3, Michigan 2, Mississippi State 2, Arizona State 1, Boise State 1, Charlotte 1, Manhattan 1, Providence 1.