UConn Back At No. 1 In AP Top 25 Ahead Of Repeat Bid In March Madness; Houston, Purdue, Iowa St Next

Reigning nationwide champion Connecticut is again at No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 males’s faculty basketball ballot a day after being named the highest total seed for the NCAA Tournament.

The Huskies moved up from No. 2 in Monday’s ballot, buying and selling spots with Houston after the Cougars’ lopsided loss within the Big 12 Tournament title sport to Iowa State. UConn acquired 61 of 62 first-place votes to return to No. 1 for the primary time since a six-week stint in January and February.

UConn (31-3) has misplaced simply as soon as since Dec. 20 and gained its first Big East Tournament title since 2011 on Saturday. Then got here a No. 1 regional seed within the NCAAs for the primary time since a Final Four run in 2009 and sixth time total.

The Huskies, who prime the East Region bracket, try to turn into faculty basketball’s first repeat champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007.

“We’ve got a bunch of NBA players — we’ve got NBA-level talent that’s willing to screen and share and play for each other on offense,” coach Dan Hurley mentioned after a win in opposition to St. John’s within the Big East semifinals. “And it’s a unique group of players that have NBA ability, but are humble and about team.”

Big 12 regular-season champ Houston nonetheless acquired a first-place vote regardless of its event stumble, whereas Purdue remained at No. 3 after falling to Wisconsin within the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.

Iowa State jumped three spots to No. 4 for this system’s highest rating since spending every week at No. 4 in December 2015. The Cyclones have been unranked this season till Jan. 15.

North Carolina is No. 5. The Tar Heels gained the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title however fell within the ACC Tournament ultimate to cap rival North Carolina State’s stunning title run.

Of that group, the Cougars (South), Boilermakers (Midwest) and Tar Heels (West) earned prime NCAA regional seeds.

Tennessee, Auburn, Marquette, Arizona and Illinois rounded out the highest 10, with the Tigers successful the Southeastern Conference Tournament and the Illini claiming the Big Ten title behind a scoring binge from Terrence Shannon Jr.

Saint Mary’s had the largest bounce of the week, climbing six spots to No. 15 after beating Gonzaga for the West Coast Conference Tournament title. Auburn was subsequent by shifting up 5 spots to No. 7, creating a big disparity with the NCAA choice committee that gave the Tigers a No. 4 regional seed in UConn’s East bracket.

More than half of the ballot groups (13) slid after the chaos from league tournaments. Arizona, No. 11 Creighton, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 25 Washington State all tied for the largest tumbles by falling three spots.

No. 23 Wisconsin and No. 24 San Diego State have been the brand new additions to the ballot, although each have been ranked in a number of weeks this season. Nevada (No. 23) and Dayton (No. 24) fell out to make room for the Badgers and Aztecs.

The Big 12 had a national-best six ranked groups, together with No. 17 Kansas, No. 21 BYU and No. 22 Texas Tech. The SEC was subsequent with 5, together with No. 16 South Carolina.

The Big East and Big Ten every had three ranked groups, whereas the ACC, Pac-12, Mountain West and West Coast conferences every had two.

For the primary time, The Associated Press will launch a post-tournament Top 25 after the nationwide championship sport. It will likely be launched April 9, the day after the title sport in Glendale, Arizona.

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Get ballot alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 all through the season. Sign up right here. AP faculty basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is revealed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)