Michigan State's fall from fifth to 13th followed its 80-62 loss to Maryland in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic, while Marquette's drop from 15th to No. 25 came after an 89-75 home loss to Dayton.

Syracuse (6-0), which was ranked for one week last season, won the CBE Classic, beating Florida in the semifinals and Kansas in the championship game.

Tranghese said when the conference expanded to 16 teams many felt there would be a ceiling on how many teams it could get in the NCAA tournament.

"This is what people saw as the biggest stumbling block, but nothing has dissuaded my thinking," said Tranghese, who became Big East commissioner in 1990 and will retire in June. "At least since we've formed the current league the (NCAA selection) committee has not put limits on a league, and I think we're capable of getting all our deserving teams in in two ways: distinguish yourself in conference play with marquee wins and also do it in the nonconference like Syracuse did with wins over Kansas and Florida. That is the biggest selling point we can have before the committee."

Baylor (6-1) was ranked for two weeks last season, the school's first poll appearance since 1968-69. It beat Arizona State in the 76 Classic semifinals then lost 87-84 to Wake Forest in the title game.

Kansas (4-1), which lost all but two players from the team that won it all in April, fell out from No. 22 after the overtime loss to Syracuse in the championship game in Kansas City.

Wisconsin (5-1) bounced back from the loss to Connecticut with a 67-46 victory over Wisconsin-Milwaukee but still dropped out from No. 25.

The ACC was next with four teams, while the Big 12 had three.

There will be three games between ranked teams this week €" Duke at Purdue and North Carolina at Michigan State in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge and UCLA visits Texas. €©