JMU enters women’s poll at No. 24

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The James Madison's women's basketball team entered The Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time since the 2006-07 season with a No. 24 ranking on yesterday's list.

JMU has a 7-0 record that includes a 75-73 win at Virginia, which is ranked 19th. In 2006-07, the Dukes were ranked for four straight weeks and reached the No. 22 spot.

JMU's next game will be at No. 7 Duke on Friday.

Meanwhile, remained No. 1 for the 30th straight week, matching the longest run atop the poll in school history.

UConn received all 40 first-place votes from the national media panel and tied the mark set during 1999-2001.

The Huskies are still six short of the all-time record of 36 consecutive weeks at No. 1, held by Louisiana Tech during 1980-82.

South Carolina gives Horn pact extension

South Carolina coach Darrin Horn has agreed to a two-year contract extension that will increase his salary to $1.1 million per year.

Horn finished 21-10 in first season with the Gamecocks, winning a share of the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division title. South Carolina is 6-2 this season.

Penn fires Miller after 0-7 start

PHILADELPHIA -- Glen Miller did more than lose games at Penn. He struck the wrong chord with fans and alumni from the day he was hired because he had no previous connections to the Ivy League school.

When losses piled up and attendance dipped at the famed Palestra, Miller was on his way out.

Pennsylvania fired Miller after the Quakers dropped their first seven games, a rare early-season coaching change for a program that not long ago was a regular in the NCAA tournament.

The Quakers replaced Miller on an interim basis with former school great Jerome Allen, who served under Miller as an assistant coach.

Miller was 45-52 overall since being hired in 2006 to replace the departed Fran Dunphy. In his first season, Miller led the Quakers to a 22-9 record and an NCAA tournament appearance, but Penn has declined steadily since.

national tournament semifinals.

Kansas, Texas keep top two spots in poll

Kansas was the runaway No. 1 pick in The Associated Press men's basketball polljust as it has been each week since the season began last month.

Kansas State and New Mexico entered the rankings this week. The Wildcats joined the poll for the first time since the 2007-08 season, a drought dwarfed by the Lobos, whose previous appearance in the Top 25 was in March 1999.

The Jayhawks (9-0), who easily beat Radford and La Salle last week, received 61 first-place votes from the national-media panel and were well ahead of Texas (8-0), which received one first-place vote and was No. 2 for the third straight week.