Dec 02, 2014 03:15 PM EST By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The Kentucky Wildcats (1) are maintaining their stronghold on the top spot in the AP college basketball poll three weeks into the regular season.

With 62 first-place votes, the heavily favored Wildcats have three more ranked opponents left in their non-conference scheduled including a Friday night home game against sixth-ranked Texas. Other potential stumbling blocks include Dec. 13 against UNC (12) and Dec. 27 on the road against Louisville (5).

Wisconsin (2) held onto the second spot and even grabbed three first-place votes after going 3-0 last week, even if they narrowly escaped an upset to Georgetown. Rounding out the top 10, and remaining undefeated, were Arizona, Duke, Louisville, Texas, Virginia, Wichita State, Gonzaga and Villanova.

College basketball will get an early heavyweight showdown Wednesday night when Duke visits Wisconsin, the season's first matchup between two top-five teams. Wisconsin has been outstanding on defense thus far, allowing 50 points per game, whereas Duke's explosive offense is average 90 points per game with 20 assists and a collective field goal percentage of .527.

UNC had the largest drop in the poll this week, falling seven places after losing to Butler, which made way for several teams to move up. UNC responded to their upset loss by beating UCLA and Florida, ranked 22nd and 18th at the time, respectively.

Also taking a tumble was UConn, who fell off the poll from the 24th spot after losing to Texas on a late three-pointer. It was also UConn's second straight loss, as the defending champions' offense has looked sluggish in the absence of Shabazz Napier.

UConn was among five teams dropped off the poll, joining Virginia Commonwealth, Florida, UCLA and Creighton. No team fell farther than then-14th-ranked Virginia Commonwealth, who suffered two losses in three games last week.

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