Houston, UConn, Purdue atop poll; UNC, UK rise
Mar 11, 2024, 01:17 PM ET
Houston stayed atop the AP Top 25 guys’s college basketball survey for the third successive week Monday while a couple of the game’s traditional blue bloods made huge dives as they peak in the nick of time for postseason play.The Cougars received 52 of 62 first-place votes from a nationwide media panel after a week in which they beat UCF and routed then-No. 14 Kansas to clinch the Huge 12 regular-season title in their first year in the league. The 3 straight weeks Houston has spent at No. 1 matches the school’s longest run since the 1967-68 season.Team Tape-record 1
| . Houston( | 52)28-3 2. UConn(6 |
|---|---|
| )28-3 3. Purdue (4 ) | 28-3 |
| 4. North Carolina 25-6 5. Tennessee | |
| 24-7 6. Arizona 24-7 7. | Iowa |
| State 24-7 8. Creighton 23-8 9. Kentucky 23-8 10 | |
| . Marquette | 23-8 |
| 11. Duke 24-7 | |
| 12. Auburn 24-7 | |
| 13. Illinois | 23-8 |
| 14. Baylor 22-9 15 | . South Carolina |
| 25-6 16. Kansas | 22-9 |
| 17. Gonzaga 24-6 18. Utah State 26-5 | |
| 19. Alabama 21-10 20. BYU 22-9 21 | |
| . Saint Mary’s 24-7 22. Washington State 23-8 23. Nevada | 26-6 |
| 24. Dayton 24-6 25. Texas Tech 22-9″It’s pleasing, | “stated Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson, whose team will be |
| the top seed in the Big | 12 tourney |
| and open play Thursday.”I’m | |
| delighted for everyone. There’s | |
| numerous people that | have |
| an inability complex | about,’We |
| ‘re the University of Houston.’ | |
| This is a damn good | school. We |
| live in a damn great city, and we’re a damn excellent basketball program.”Safeguarding national champ UConn, the top seed in the Big East tourney, was second in the survey after getting 6 first-place votes, and Purdue– the front runner in the Big 10 tourney– stayed at No. 3 after getting 4 first-place votes.The big motion came in the remainder of the leading 10, where North Carolina leapt three spots to No. 4 after beating then-No. 9 Duke and Kentucky vaulted six spots to No. 9 after its win over then-No. 4 Tennessee.The Tar Heels revamped their roster after last season’s flop from preseason No. 1 to missing out on the NCAA tournament, and the changes were evident against the Blue Devils. Stanford transfer Harrison Ingram controlled the groups ‘first conference and Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan opted for 31 points in the Tar Heels’84-79 victory Saturday.The win protected UNC’s first outright Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title considering that 2017.”All year, you take a look at specific games where different guys step up in different scenarios,”North Carolina big male Armando Bacot said.”We’ve got many good guys that it’s a high-end.”The Wildcats, the No. 2 seed behind the Vols in the Southeastern Conference tournament, showcased their depth in a set of wins last week. Reed Sheppard came off the bench to hit seven threes and score 27 points in the 85-81 win at Tennessee.
“I have actually stated it before, they’re the most explosive offending team in the nation,”Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.Arizona, the top seed in the Pac-12 tourney, fell one area to 6th today and was followed by Iowa State and Creighton, which went up 2 spots. Marquette dropped two areas and completed the leading 10. Duke fell to No. 11 and was followed by Auburn, Illinois, Baylor and South Carolina. Kansas continued its late-season slide, falling 2 areas after a week in which it blew out Kansas State however lost by 30 on the roadway to Houston.The Jayhawks likewise lost huge guy Hunter Dickinson to a dislocated shoulder and fellow All-America prospect Kevin McCullar Jr. to more knee problems. It’s uncertain whether either player will be readily available when Kansas, which dropped to the No. 6 seed for the Big 12 tourney, plays its second-round game Wednesday.Gonzaga continued its late-season climb to No. 17 in the survey and was followed by Utah State, Alabama and BYU. The last 5 consisted of Saint Mary’s, Washington State, Nevada, Dayton and Texas Tech.RISING AND FALLING Kentucky made the most significant relocation, climbing six positions, while Utah State climbed four spots after wins over San Jose State and New Mexico. Washington State took the biggest fall, dropping four areas after its loss to Washington.IN AND OUT Nevada is ranked for the very first time given that the final poll of the 2018-19 season, checking in at No. 23 after wins over Boise State and UNLV, while Texas Tech went back to the poll after wins over Oklahoma State and then-No. 11 Baylor. Nevada and Texas Tech went into the Leading 25 at the expense of San Diego State and South Florida.CONFERENCE VIEW The Huge 12 blazes a trail with six groups in the Top 25, and the SEC follows closely with five. The Big East has 3 in the survey and all of them– UConn, Creighton and Marquette– remain in the leading 10. The Big 10, ACC, Pac-12, West Coast and Mountain West conferences have 2 ranked teams apiece. |