NCAA: Indiana one vote shy of unanimous #1

With a 24-3 overall record, 12-2 in Big Ten Conference play, the University of Indiana Hoosiers came one first place vote shy of a unanimous No. 1 selection in the Associate Press NCAA Top 25 Poll released on Monday. They also took 28 of 31 first place votes in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. Moving into the No. 2 spot this week is the Gonzaga Bulldogs, 27-2 overall, 14-0 in West Coast Conference play. The Zags are currently on a 10-game winning streak and only have two games left on their conference schedule. Rounding out the top five are Duke (24-3, 11-3 ACC), Michigan (23-4, 10-4 Big Ten), and Miami (22-4, 13-1 ACC).

This week’s poll reflects changes in No. 2 through No. 5, as last week’s No. 2 Miami lost big at Wake Forest (12-14, 5-9 ACC), 80:65 and fell to No. 5; No. 4 Michigan State (22-6, 11-4 Big Ten) lost at home to No. 1 Indiana, 68:72, then fell on the road to No. 18 Ohio State (20-7, 10-5 Big Ten), 68:60, to sink to No. 9 in this week’s poll; and No. 5 Florida (22-4, 12-2 SEC) lost a road game to unranked Missouri (19-8, 8-6 SEC) to fall to No. 8.

New to the Top 25 this week are No. 18 Saint Louis (21-5, 10-2 A10) off a 61:65 road win over No. 15 Butler (22-6, 9-4 A10), who drops to No. 20 this week; and No. 26 Louisiana Tech (24-3, 14-0 WAC) on the strength of their 24-3 overall record, 14-0 record in the Western Athletic Conference, 16-game winning streak, and a 118:48 win at home against Central Baptist.

Falling out of the poll this week are No. 22 Colorado State (21-6, 8-4 MWC) after losing on the road to UNLV, 61:59, and a home loss to Univ. of New Mexico, 82:91; and No. 24 Virginia Commonwealth (22-6, 10-3 A10) after their 62:76 loss to Saint Louis.

NCAA Top 5

No. 1 – Indiana (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) – 64 1st place votes, 1624 total votes: The Hoosiers only had one game this week, but it was a big one against last week’s No. 4 Michigan State on the road, 68:72. The Spartans are currently No. 2 in the Big Ten behind the big dogs from Indiana, so the contest had huge conference standing implications. The clubs were tied for the lead in the tough Big Ten conference, the win puts the Hoosiers squarely in the drivers seat with only four conference games remaining. In the Big Ten, that’s an eternity as they square off against a struggling Minnesota (18-9, 6-8) team that had been ranked in the Top 25 for the better part of the season; then Iowa (17-10, 6-8); then in what will be one of the most difficult weeks of the season for them, they face No. 16 Ohio State (20-7, 10-5 Big Ten) on Tues., March 5th, and then No. 4 Michigan (23-4, 10-4 Big Ten) on Sunday, March 10th. This week marks Indiana’s fourth consecutive week at No. 1.

No. 2 – Gonzaga (27-2, 14-0 WCC) – 1 1st place votes, 1530 total votes: The Zags picked up two huge wins this week as they smacked around a couple of conference foes at home. On Wed., Feb. 20th they hosted Santa Clara and came out with an 85:42 win, then took on San Diego and won that game by 31, 81:50. Gonzaga is 27-2 overall with their only loses coming at the hands of Illinois, the same Illinois that dealt Indiana one of it’s three losses and was ranked No. 10 at the time of the loss, and a one-point loss at Butler, 64:63, when Butler was ranked No. 9. The Bulldogs conclude their conference schedule this week against Brigham Young (20-9, 9-5 WCC) on the road and then their last game is at home against Portland (11-19, 4-11 WCC).

No. 3 – Duke (24-3, 11-3 ACC) – 1461 total votes: Duke had a relatively easy week to get back on track after a tough road loss to Maryland (19-8, 7-7 ACC), 83:81, on Feb. 16th, with two ACC victories over Virginia Tech (12-15, 3-11 ACC) and Boston College (12-15, 4-10). Both VTech and BC are the bottom teams in the ACC and Duke handled them accordingly. They beat Virginia Tech 56:88 on the road, and then hosted Boston College and picked up a 21-point win in front of their home court crowd, 89:68. The Blue Devils are a full two games behind No. 5 Miami (22-4, 13-1 ACC) for the conference lead in the ACC at 11-3, but they’ll get their shot at closing the gap when they host the Hurricanes on Sat., March 2nd. Their second game of the week will be a road affair with Virginia (19-8, 9-5). After this week they’ll have one week of ACC play remaining with a home game against Virginia Tech and then a road showdown against Tobacco Road rival North Carolina.

No. 4 – Michigan (23-4, 10-4 Big Ten) – 1411 total votes: The Michigan Wolverines are getting a lot of love from the pollsters with wins over Penn State (8-18, 0-14 Big Ten) and Illinois (20-9, 7-8 Big Ten) this week. That’s coming off the heals of a two consecutive road loses to Wisconsin (19-8, 10-4 Big Ten) and Michigan State (22-6, 11-4 Big Ten). The Wolverines looked unbeatable earlier in the season with Player of the Year Candidate Trey Burke leading the team to a 16-0 start to the season, but since then they’ve lost four Big Ten matches and only beat Penn State by eight at home. The same Penn State that hasn’t won a Big Ten game this season. Michigan has a tough road ahead with three games this coming week; a road trip to Penn State and then back-to-back contests with Michigan State at home on Sat. and Sun., Mar. 2-3. After that they face Purdue and then close the season off with Indiana, in a game that very well could be for the Big Ten crown.

No. 5 – Florida (22-4, 12-2 SEC) – 1317 total votes: Miami had a 14-game win streak snapped on the road by unranked Wake Forest (12-14, 5-9 ACC) this week 80:65, knocking them out of contention for the No. 1 spot in the country. They did get a 54:50 win at home over Virginia (19-8, 9-5 ACC) to help hold them in the Top 5, but the colossal loss to Wake Forest had the potential to send them much farther down than just three spots. The Hurricanes face Virginia Tech (12-15, 3-11 ACC) and No. 3 Duke (24-3, 11-3 ACC) this coming week and will close out their ACC schedule the following week against two bottom teams in the ACC, Georgia Tech (14-12, 4-10) and Clemson (13-13, 5-9).

Individual Leaders
Erick Green of Virginia Tech is leading the NCAA in scoring with a 25.2 points per game average, followed by Lamont Jones of Iona at 23.0. Andre Roberson holds the top spot for rebounders with an 11.8 rebounds per game average, while O.D. Onosike of Siena is close behind with an 11.6 rpg average. Jason Brickman’s 8.4 assists per game is not only leading his team, Long Island University, but he’s also at the top of this weeks assist leaders poll. Michael Carter-Williams of Syracuse is still on the list with 8.0 apg. Even though he’s out for the season with an ACL tear, Kentucky’s Nerlens Noel is the nations top shot blocker with 4.4 swats per game, followed by Chris Obekpa of St. John’s with 4.1 bpg.

The Associated Press Top 25 Poll