It usually isn't big news when a team from the Big Ten moves into The Associated Press' college basketball poll. It is when that team is Northwestern.

The Wildcats moved into the poll on Monday at No. 25, their first appearance in the rankings since January 1969, when it was still just a Top 20.

With Kansas again a runaway No. 1, as it has been since the preseason poll, the top eight teams remained the same for the third straight week.

Northwestern (10-1) has won nine straight games since a loss to Butler. The Wildcats, one of the few teams from a major conference to never play in the NCAA tournament, were ranked for three weeks during the 1968-69 season. They made the poll two other times: for one week in 1954-55; and seven weeks in 1958-59.

Michael Rothstein's take: The top 8 remained the same this week, but there was a shakeup in the middle of this week's ballot. Losses by Florida, New Mexico and Butler knocked those teams out of the poll, making room for some new contenders, including the return of three schools to the Top 25 - Ohio State, Washington and Dayton. Washington is clearly the best team in the Pac 10, and the Atlantic 10 is emerging as one of the better leagues in the country. In fact, I'd be willing to say the top half of that league could easily run with the top teams in the Big Ten.