UConn turned the primary unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press males’s school basketball ballot this season, whereas Washington State jumped into the rankings Monday at No. 21 to finish a 302-week drought stretching again to the 2007-08 season.
The Huskies remained atop the ballot for the sixth consecutive week after a blowout of DePaul and a powerful 81-53 win over then-No. 4 Marquette over the weekend. They acquired all 62 first-place votes from a panel of nationwide media members, scooping up the 16 first-place votes that Purdue misplaced when the Boilermakers fell to Ohio State on Sunday.
UConn is using the second-longest streak at No. 1 at school historical past behind a ten-week keep throughout the 1998-99 season, when the group coached by Jim Calhoun and led by Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin beat Duke for the nationwide championship.
“All we can control is taking a championship approach to the next game,” mentioned UConn coach Dan Hurley, whose group was the No. 2 total seed behind Purdue within the first look supplied by the NCAA Tournament choice committee over the weekend.
UConn has gained 14 straight video games, the longest streak in males’s Division I basketball.
“We just talk about a championship-level approach, mentality, execution,” mentioned Hurley, whose group is aiming for the primary repeat nationwide championship since Florida in 2006-07. “We’re not going to talk about standings. There’s no reason to talk about that.”
Houston rode a simple win towards Texas over the weekend into the second spot forward of Purdue, whereas Arizona moved up one spot into fourth and Tennessee climbed three spots to spherical out the highest 5.
Iowa State ran its successful streak to 4 straight within the rugged Big 12 with wins over Cincinnati and Texas Tech final week, and that despatched the Cyclones up 4 spots to No. 6. That’s the best this system has been ranked since Dec. 14, 2015.
Marquette dropped three spots following its loss to the Huskies and was seventh. Duke was eighth, Kansas fell three positions to ninth after a lopsided loss to Texas Tech and a win over Oklahoma, and North Carolina rounded out the highest 10.
Baylor was eleventh and was adopted by Illinois, Alabama, Auburn and Creighton. Dayton stayed put at No. 16, with Kentucky up 5 spots to No. 17. Saint Mary’s was subsequent after extending its successful streak to 13 video games, and San Diego State leaped again into the ballot at No. 19. South Carolina fell 9 spots to No. 20 after losses to Auburn and LSU.
There had been 4 newcomers or returning groups among the many ultimate 5 on Monday: Washington State at No. 21, adopted by Colorado State, Texas Tech and Florida. BYU fell six spots however held down the ultimate place within the Top 25.
The Cougars, who’ve gained seven straight, returned to the ballot for the primary time since they had been No. 21 within the ultimate rating of the 2007-08 season. That group reached the Sweet 16 earlier than dropping to Final Four participant North Carolina.
Their first take a look at as a ranked group shall be a visit to No. 4 Arizona on Thursday night time.
The volatility that has marked the again half of the ballot all season continued this week. The Aztecs, Cougars, Rams, Red Raiders and Gators all moved into the rating on the expense of Virginia, Wisconsin, Florida Atlantic, Indiana State and Oklahoma.
The Badgers have been in free-fall since climbing to sixth the ultimate week of January, dropping 5 of their final six. FAU climbed to No. 7 the ultimate week of December earlier than final 12 months’s NCAA Tournament darling lastly slipped from the ballot altogether.
Kentucky made the most important leap amongst groups that had been ranked final week, utilizing spectacular wins over Ole Miss and then-No. 13 Auburn to climb 5 spots to No. 17. Iowa State jumped 4 positions to land at sixth.
South Carolina’s wild experience additionally continued this week. The Gamecocks vaulted from out of the ballot to No. 15 two weeks in the past, moved up 4 spots to No. 11 final week, then plummeted 9 spots to No. 20 after a pair of losses final week.
The SEC moved right into a tie with the Big 12 for essentially the most groups within the ballot with six apiece. The Big East had three, whereas the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and Mountain West every had two groups within the Top 25.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
