UConn rises to No. 1 in AP Top 25 after tumultuous week; Gonzaga falls out for the first time since 2016

[ad_1]

It marks the first time that UConn has been ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 since spending four weeks in the second half of the 2008–09 season, which ended with the Huskies reaching the Final Four.

“Some people don’t want goals,” coach Dan Hurley said last week about the potential to reach No. 1. “I think we accept the goal at UConn.”

Purdue claimed 20 first-place votes, followed by Kansas – remaining the only team voted off from last week – which had three first-place votes. Despite the loss at UCF,

political cartoon

Gonzaga drops out to No. 23 After the defeat in Santa ClaraMark Few’s club are unranked for the first time since the final two months of the 2015–16 season.

That ended a streak of 143 consecutive weeks in the survey, 39 of which came in at No. 1 — notably a wire-to-wire run in the 2020-21 season that resulted in Gonzaga’s only loss in the NCAA title game. To the boiler.

Last week was a tough one for the AP Top 25 teams. Eight of the top 10 teams lost at least once, notably number 5 houston United lost two games by a combined five points for their first setback of the year.

But last week, 15 ranked teams lost, keeping some teams from falling, while everyone around them also faltered. Ultimately this meant the Cougars dropped just three spots to No. 5, while Purdue, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 8 Kentucky dropped just one or two spots after their losses to unranked teams.

After starting the year at No. 2, Duke moved up four spots to No. 7 and returned to the top 10, followed by the Wildcats, No. 9 Baylor and No. 10 Memphis.

Ten teams moved up in this week’s poll, with the Bears’ jump of five spots being the biggest jump this week. No. 11 Wisconsin, No. 16 Utah State and No. 18 Creighton join the Blue Devils with jumps of four spots.

The week’s biggest declines were at Oklahoma and Marquette, each falling six spots. The 15th-ranked Sooners fell to TCU and Kansas after losing on the road, while the 17th-ranked Golden Eagles lost to Butler at home.

No. 12 Arizona and No. 14 Illinois each fell four spots, while a total of nine teams slipped in last week’s poll.

No. 19 TCU gives five newcomers of the week biggest start to lead poll after win against oklahoma And houston,

No. 21 Dayton, No. 22 Mississippi, No. 24 Iowa State and No. 25 Texas Tech were the other new additions, with all but the Rebels making their first appearance for the season.

Colorado State (No. 17), San Diego State (No. 19), Clemson (No. 21) and Texas (No. 25) joined the Zags in being voted out.

The Big 12 represented nearly a third of this top 25 with a national-best eight teams.

The Southeastern Conference was next with four teams, followed by the Big Ten and Big East with three each, the Atlantic Coast and American Athletic Conferences with two, and one each for the Pac-12, Atlantic-10 and Mountain West.

Copyright 2024 The associated Press, All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[ad_2]

Source link

Leave a Comment