(Al Goldis / AP )
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Just a couple days removed from winning the Big Ten football championship, the Michigan State Spartans have taken over the No. 1 spot in this week's release of the Associated Press Top 25 men's basketball poll, announced this afternoon.
The Spartans jumped from third to first in the poll on the strength of wins over Louisville and Binghamton last week and with the benefit of last week's top two teams -- Kentucky and Maryland -- both suffering losses.
Michigan State received 62 of 65 first-place votes from the national media panel for 1,617 points, well ahead of No.