AP & Coaches Top 25 Released: Commentary

    
December 8th, 2008 by Matthew Ryter
» Tags

The Story: The top three teams remained the same in this week’s ESPN/USA today coaches’ poll. North Carolina, Connecticut, and Pittsburgh were once again voted the top three teams in the nation by the committee of 31 Division I head coaches. Gonzaga and Oklahoma both moved up to No. 4 and No. 5 respectively to round out this week’s top 5. Four of last week’s top ten teams dropped spots. Duke dropped 3 spots to No. 7 after losing at Michigan this past week. Notre Dame fell after losing to Ohio State from 7th to 13th. UCLA after a tough loss at Texas dropped a few spots once again to No. 14. Purdue lost two games this week to Duke and Oklahoma, and fell 7 spots to 17th. Two teams, Florida and Wisconsin, dropped out of the rankings completely and were replaced by Marquette (No. 24) and Ohio State (No. 21).

 

AP Top 25


1. North Carolina (72) 8-0 1,800
2. Connecticut 8-0 1,710
3. Pittsburgh 9-0 1,633
4. Gonzaga 6-0 1,574
5. Oklahoma 8-0 1,529
6. Texas 6-1 1,381
7. Duke 8-1 1,256
8. Tennessee 6-1 1,203
9. Louisville 4-1 1,080
10. Xavier 7-0 1,041
11. Wake Forest 8-0 957
12. Notre Dame 6-2 954
13. Syracuse 8-0 869
14. Purdue 6-2 718
15. Villanova 8-0 713
16. UCLA 5-2 705
17. Memphis 5-1 579
18. Michigan State 5-2 536
19. Georgetown 5-1 475
20. Arizona State 7-1 462
21. Ohio State 5-0 435
22. Baylor 7-1 351
23. Davidson 6-1 348
24. Marquette 7-1 222
25. Kansas 7-1 206


Others Receiving Votes
Dayton 155, Clemson 141, Michigan 119, Miami (FL) 63, Brigham Young 33, Florida 33, Missouri 22, LSU 21, Butler 15, Wisconsin 13, Illinois 11, Florida State 9, Saint Mary's 8, Maryland 7, Texas A&M 5, Northwestern 4, Minnesota 2, Utah 1, Houston 1.


Dropped From Rankings
Miami (FL) 21, Florida 23.

ESPN/USA Today Poll


1. North Carolina (31) 8-0 775
2. Connecticut 8-0 734
3. Pittsburgh 9-0 715
4. Gonzaga 6-0 674
5. Oklahoma 8-0 632
6. Texas 6-1 601
7. Duke 8-1 551
8. Tennessee 6-1 465
9. Xavier 7-0 463
10. Louisville 4-1 446
11. Wake Forest 8-0 368
12. Villanova 8-0 362
13. Notre Dame 6-2 359
14. UCLA 5-2 349
15. Memphis 5-1 330
16. Syracuse 8-0 317
17. Purdue 6-2 293
18. Arizona State 7-1 254
19. Georgetown 5-1 246
20. Michigan State 5-2 190
21. Ohio State 5-0 173
22. Davidson 6-1 143
23. Kansas 7-1 136
24. Marquette 7-1 102
25. Miami (FL) 5-2 69


Others Receiving Votes
Baylor 65, Dayton 57, Wisconsin 43, Brigham Young 34, Clemson 29, Michigan 29, Butler 27, Florida 22, Saint Mary's 8, Missouri 5, Maryland 3, Minnesota 2, Washington State 2, West Virginia 1, Florida State 1.


Dropped From Rankings
Florida 21, Wisconsin 22.

 

 

Ryter’s Block: The Big East now has half of their league’s teams in the Top 25. Marquette entered the Top 25 this week to give the league 8 teams in the poll. Syracuse, No. 16, deserves to get a little more love. UCLA and Notre Dame have two losses a piece and are still ranked ahead of the unbeaten Orange. Ohio State won two big games, at Miami (Fl.) and Notre Dame, to prove that they belong in this week’s poll. Baylor, not ranked this week, deserves to be in the top 25. Baylor’s only loss this year is to No. 11 Wake Forest and has beaten No. 18 Arizona State yet somehow is not in this week’s poll. Although losing to two tough teams this week Purdue should have slipped farther down the polls.

 

Here are some games next week that are sure to shake up the polls a bit…

 

Tuesday, 12/9:              No. 6 Texas vs. No. 12 Villanova

Tuesday, 12/9:              No. 22 Davidson vs. West Virginia

 

Wednesday, 12/10:        No. 4 Gonzaga at Washington State

 

Saturday, 12/13:            No. 9 Xavier at Cincinnati

Saturday, 12/13:            No. 15 Memphis at No. 19 Georgetown

 

Sunday, 12/14:              No. 4 Gonzaga at Arizona

 

»