NCAA: Top the same, Kentucky & UCLA dive
There were no big surprises in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Associated Press and the USA Today/Coaches Poll Top 10 this week, but the rest of the Top 25 had a few major moves with some previously ranked squads falling heavy after unexpected loses and some new clubs knocking on the door of the Top 10 with some big wins. Indiana, Duke and Michigan are still fixtures in the number 1, 2 and 3 spots, with Duke picking up two first place votes on Indiana in both the AP and Coaches Polls. Indiana earned 45 (down 2) of 65 first place votes in the AP Poll (1605 total points, down 1) and 25 (down 2) of 31 first place votes in the Coaches Poll (768 total points, down 1). Indiana scored a huge win over North Carolina (AP#20, USA#16), 83:59 and took care of business with unranked Coppin State (NR), 87:51 to improve to 8-0 on the season. Duke inched closer to the top of the polls with wins over Top 10 ranked Ohio State (AP#7, USA#7), 73:68 and unranked Delaware, 88:50. The Blue Devils earned 20 (up 2) first place votes on the AP Poll (1577 total points, up 23) and 6 (up 2) first place votes on the Coaches Poll (749 total points, up 26). Michigan improved to 7-0 this week and stayed in the third spot of both polls with wins over North Carolina State (AP#20, USA#24), 79:72 and unranked Bradley, 74:66. Michigan has yet to receive any first place votes in either poll, but they have picked up points in the vote totals, jumping 46 points in the AP Poll (1467 this week) and 10 points in the Coaches Poll (701 the week).
Duke has been on the poll for 101 weeks starting with the preseason poll of 2007-08. Kansas has the second-longest run at 69 weeks.
Syracuse (5-0) jumped up two spots on the AP poll and up one spot to end up #4 on both this week. The Orangemen only had one game this week, a 91:82 win over unranked Arkansas, but they’ve already started strong for the next poll cycle having pounded unranked Eastern Michigan 84:48 on Monday night.
Louisville (6-1) stayed in the same positions on both polls, AP#5 and USA#6, with a win over unranked Illinois State, 69:66.
Florida (6-0) got a small bump in both polls with a beat down of Marquette, who had earned a few votes in the polls last week, but wasn’t in the top 25, 82:49. This week Florida sits at AP#6 (up 1) and USA#5 (up 2).
Ohio State (5-1) lost three spots in both polls to number 7 after their 73:68 lost to number 2 Duke. They also got a big win over unranked Northern Kentucky, 70:43, on Saturday.
Arizona (5-0) moved up one spot to number 8 on both polls with decisive wins over two unranked teams, Northern Arizona, 93:50 and Texas Tech 85:57.
The Kansas Jayhawks (6-1) picked up a spot on both polls to #9 with a win over Oregon State (NR), 84:78.
Gonzaga continues their climb in the polls, moving into the top 10 with a two spot bump on both polls with two wins this week. On Thursday they pounded unranked Lewis-Clark State 104:57 and then beat Pacific 85:67 on Saturday.
Falling out of the Top 10 and off the AP Poll, but not the Coaches Poll is Kentucky, who had a rough week falling to Notre Dame (AP#22, USA#25), 50:64 and Baylor (AP#32, USA#33), 55:64. The Wildcats dropped from #8 on the AP Poll to #26 and dropped 11 spots on the Coaches Poll from 8 to 19.
Making big moves up the polls this week were Cincinnati (7-0, +6 to AP#11, +4 to USA#12) with a win over Alabama (AP#30, USA#32); Missouri (6-1, +4 to AP#12, +4 to USA#11) with a win over Appalachian State 72:56; Illinois (8-0, +9 to AP#13, +8 to USA#14) win over Georgia Tech, 75:62; Minnesota (8-1, +7 to AP#14, +5 to USA#21) wins over Florida State (NR) 77:68 and North Florida (NR) 87:59 ; San Diego State (6-1, +6 to AP#17, +6 to USA#15) wins over UCLA (NR), 78:69, and Texas Southern (NR), 74:62; New Mexico (8-0, +7 to AP#18, +3 to USA#20) wins over unranked Mercer, 76:58, and unranked Indiana State, 77:68.
Dropping heavy were Creighton (7-1, -5 to SP#16, -2 to USA#13) lost to Boise State 70:83, won over Saint Joesph’s 80:51; Michigan State (6-2, -6 to AP#20, -3 to USA#17) Lost to Miami 59:67 and won over Nicholls 84:39; North Carolina (6-2, -6 to AP#20, -3 to USA#16) lost to #1 Indiana, 59:83 and beat UAB, 102:84; Oklahoma State (5-1, -8 to AP#23, -5 to USA#22) lost to Virginia Tech (AP#27, USA#31), 71:81 ; North Carolina State (4-2, -7 to AP#25, -6 to USA#24) lost to #3 Michigan, 72:79; Colorado (6-1, -14 to AP#33, -9 to USA#28) win over Texas Southern, 85:80, loss to Wyoming 69:76.
UCLA (5-3) has completely fallen off the polls in the last two weeks with recent loses to Cal Poly, 68:70 (last week), and San Diego State (AP#17, USA#15), 69:78.
C.J. McCollum of Leigh has moved into the top spot on the points per game leader board with 25.9ppg; Kyle Vinales of Central Connecticut State is second with 25.7ppg. Cole Dickerson leads the country in rebounds with 15.0rpg; O.D. Anosike of Siena is second with 13.3rpg. Michael Carter-Williams of Syracuse leads the assists category with 9.2apg and is followed closely by UCLA’s Larry Drew with 8.5apg.
Kansas big man Jeff Withey is continuing to impress inside after seven games, averaging 14.6ppg, 8.1rpg and he’s leading the NCAA in blocks with 5.7bpg.
The Associated Press Top 25 Poll
Rank | Team | Record | Votes | Previous | +/- |
1 | Indiana (45) | 8-0 | 1605 | 1 | – |
2 | Duke (20) | 8-0 | 1577 | 2 | – |
3 | Michigan | 7-0 | 1467 | 3 | – |
4 | Syracuse | 5-0 | 1384 | 6 | +2 |
5 | Louisville | 6-1 | 1332 | 5 | – |
6 | Florida | 6-0 | 1324 | 7 | +1 |
7 | Ohio State | 5-1 | 1254 | 4 | -3 |
8 | Arizona | 5-0 | 1190 | 9 | +1 |
9 | Kansas | 6-1 | 1079 | 10 | +1 |
10 | Gonzaga | 8-0 | 1054 | 12 | +2 |
11 | Cincinnati | 7-0 | 919 | 17 | +6 |
12 | Missouri | 6-1 | 866 | 16 | +4 |
13 | Illinois | 8-0 | 654 | 22 | +9 |
14 | Minnesota | 8-1 | 584 | 21 | +7 |
15 | Georgetown | 5-1 | 545 | 20 | +5 |
16 | Creighton | 7-1 | 469 | 11 | -5 |
17 | San Diego State | 5-1 | 410 | 23 | +6 |
18 | New Mexico | 8-0 | 402 | 25 | +7 |
19 | Michigan State | 6-2 | 347 | 13 | -6 |
20 | North Carolina | 6-2 | 321 | 14 | -6 |
21 | UNLV | 5-1 | 285 | 24 | +3 |
22 | Notre Dame | 7-1 | 278 | 32 | +10 |
23 | Oklahoma State | 5-1 | 263 | 15 | -8 |
24 | Wichita State | 8-0 | 245 | 27 | +3 |
25 | North Carolina State | 4-2 | 234 | 18 | -7 |
Others Receiving Votes: Kentucky 186, Virginia Tech 170, Pittsburgh 164, Oregon 155, Alabama 96, Connecticut 92, Baylor 49, Colorado 44, Boise State 22, Butler 18, Maryland 9, Temple 9, Miami (FL) 7, Colorado State 5, Wyoming 5, Murray State 4, LSU 1, Marquette 1. |
Division I Coaches’ Top 25 Poll
Rank | Team | Record | Votes | Previous | +/- |
1 | Indiana (25) | 8-0 | 768 | 1 | – |
2 | Duke (6) | 8-0 | 749 | 2 | – |
3 | Michigan | 7-0 | 701 | 3 | – |
4 | Syracuse | 5-0 | 660 | 5 | +1 |
5 | Florida | 6-0 | 629 | 7 | +2 |
6 | Louisville | 6-1 | 612 | 6 | – |
7 | Ohio State | 5-1 | 598 | 4 | -3 |
8 | Arizona | 5-0 | 564 | 9 | +1 |
9 | Kansas | 6-1 | 534 | 10 | +1 |
10 | Gonzaga | 8-0 | 522 | 12 | +2 |
11 | Missouri | 6-1 | 427 | 15 | +4 |
12 | Cincinnati | 7-0 | 415 | 16 | +4 |
13 | Creighton | 7-1 | 299 | 11 | -2 |
14 | Illinois | 8-0 | 283 | 22 | +8 |
15 | San Diego State | 5-1 | 270 | 21 | +6 |
16 | North Carolina | 6-2 | 248 | 13 | -3 |
17 | Michigan State | 6-2 | 222 | 14 | -3 |
18 | UNLV | 5-1 | 210 | 20 | +2 |
19 | Kentucky | 4-3 | 196 | 8 | -11 |
20 | New Mexico | 8-0 | 182 | 23 | +3 |
21 | Minnesota | 8-1 | 149 | 26 | +5 |
22 | Oklahoma State | 5-1 | 122 | 17 | -5 |
23 | Georgetown | 5-1 | 121 | 25 | +2 |
24 | North Carolina State | 4-2 | 115 | 18 | -6 |
25 | Notre Dame | 7-1 | 92 | 30 | +5 |
Others Receiving Votes: Pittsburgh 89, Wichita State 47, Colorado 41, Oregon 40, Connecticut 38, Virginia Tech 38, Alabama 27, Baylor 18, Wyoming 9, Kansas State 8, Murray State 7, Butler 6, Miami (FL) 5, Mississippi 5, Colorado State 3, Memphis 3, Boise State 2, Virginia Commonwealth 1. |
Comparison Poll
Rank | Team | Record | AP | Coaches | Avg |
1 | Indiana | 8-0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
2 | Duke | 8-0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
3 | Michigan | 7-0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 |
4 | Syracuse | 5-0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
5 | Louisville | 6-1 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 5.5 |
Florida | 6-0 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 5.5 | |
7 | Ohio State | 5-1 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
8 | Arizona | 5-0 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.0 |
9 | Kansas | 6-1 | 9.0 | 9.0 | 9.0 |
10 | Gonzaga | 8-0 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 10.0 |
11 | Cincinnati | 7-0 | 11.0 | 12.0 | 11.5 |
Missouri | 6-1 | 12.0 | 11.0 | 11.5 | |
13 | Illinois | 8-0 | 13.0 | 14.0 | 13.5 |
14 | Creighton | 7-1 | 16.0 | 13.0 | 14.5 |
15 | San Diego State | 5-1 | 17.0 | 15.0 | 16.0 |
16 | Minnesota | 8-1 | 14.0 | 21.0 | 17.5 |
17 | North Carolina | 6-2 | 20.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 |
Michigan State | 6-2 | 19.0 | 17.0 | 18.0 | |
19 | New Mexico | 8-0 | 18.0 | 20.0 | 19.0 |
Georgetown | 5-1 | 15.0 | 23.0 | 19.0 | |
21 | UNLV | 5-1 | 21.0 | 18.0 | 19.5 |
22 | Kentucky | 4-3 | 26.0 | 19.0 | 22.5 |
Oklahoma State | 5-1 | 23.0 | 22.0 | 22.5 | |
24 | Notre Dame | 7-1 | 22.0 | 25.0 | 23.5 |
25 | North Carolina State | 4-2 | 25.0 | 24.0 | 24.5 |
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THere is no other risk regarding the regular season, but MArch Madness will be another story!