Pitt (15-0) reined supreme for the second straight week by beating St. John's for its 12th straight victory at home. The Panthers scored 29 of 31 first-place votes to lead No. 2 Duke in poll points, 773-729. Wake reeled in two first-place votes after beating then-No. 3 North Carolina from the points 92-89 on Sunday and, at 14-0, is off to its best start since the 1980-81 seasons.

The Panthers acknowledged all but two of the first-place votes from the 72-member national media panel on Monday. Some other went to the Demon Deacons, who moved up two places after handing the Tar Heels their second straight conference loss. The Tar Heels lost for the 2nd straight week and fell to sixth in the poll. The Boston College ,first defeat knocked UNC out of its season-long hold on the top ranking; the second left it 0-2 in the ACC, the Heels' worst start in conference play since losing their first three ACC games in the 1996-97 season.

After the Tar Heels, UCLA, Syracuse, Clemson and Michigan State made the top-10 cut. Clemson is the other of the three remaining victorious teams in Division I. Michigan State again joined the top 10 after starting seventh in the preseason poll, and the eight-ranked Orange ease into their highest poll ranking this season.

In 1987, the University of Pittsburgh is among the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States. The Pittsburgh Panther's basketball program, known as the Pitt Panthers and it is the NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's basketball program of the Pittsburgh University. The University of Pittsburgh began playing this basketball game in 1905-1906. In the late 1920s, Pittsburgh started playing a "national schedule" by taking his teams on midwestern road trips that included games against several Big Ten schools.

This basketball game has become an insatiable American passion. As it is the largest observer sports ,its passion is inescapable due to its high score, fast rapidity and employing of some of the world's best athletes . The game was initially played with a soccer ball and a closed bottom basket that requiring a broom handle to push the ball out each time a basket was made. This sport would provide a level of physical activity that would keep the students in shape during the winter months at the university.

The Pitt men's basketball team has played every year from the beginning and racked up 19 appearances in the NCAA tournament. Their Big East Tournament Championship win earned the Pittsburgh Panthers a school-record seventh-consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The Panther was adopted as the amulet of the University of Pittsburgh. The alliteration - Pittsburgh Panthers - was nice, but it was also chosen because the noble panther was the most difficult creature as they are local to the Pittsburgh region, no other college or university currently used it as their symbol, and the panther's gold coat worked well with the University's colors.