College Basketball: Top 25 Polls: Duke New #1

    
January 26th, 2009 by Matthew Ryter
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The Story: For the third week in a row there is a new No. 1 team in the nation. Duke sits atop both polls this week replacing Wake Forest, last week’s No. 1 team. The only other team to receive first place votes in the Coaches’ poll is Connecticut. A total of four teams received first place votes in the AP poll starting with Duke with 62, Connecticut (6), Pittsburgh (3), and Oklahoma (1). Louisville made the biggest jump in this week’s coaches’ poll. After winning seven straight games the Cardinals jumped up five spots to No. 7; they also sit at No. 7 in the AP poll. Clemson and Syracuse have both fallen from the top 10. The Tigers went 1-1 this week and after losing by 24 to North Carolina find themselves at No. 12 in the newest AP poll. The Orange fell to No. 15 after losing by double digits to Pittsburgh. Georgetown helped Seton Hall earn their first Big East victory yesterday and fell thirteen spots to No. 25. Notre Dame, Minnesota, and Florida have all fallen from this week’s AP poll. Notre Dame’s 45 game home winning streak was snapped this past week after Connecticut paid South Bend a visit. Replacing those three teams in this week’s AP poll is Saint Mary’s, Washington, and Kentucky. Baylor was the only team to fall from this week’s coaches’ poll; they are replaced by Gonzaga.

 

 

AP Top 25


1. Duke (62) 18-1 1,789
2. Connecticut (6) 18-1 1,694
3. Pittsburgh (3) 18-1 1,647
4. Oklahoma (1) 19-1 1,539
5. North Carolina 17-2 1,529
6. Wake Forest 16-1 1,509
7. Louisville 15-3 1,351
8. Marquette 17-2 1,209
9. Michigan State 16-3 1,136
10. Xavier 17-2 1,084
11. Texas 14-4 1,017
12. Clemson 17-2 929
13. Butler 18-1 916
14. Arizona State 16-3 834
15. Syracuse 17-4 808
16. Purdue 15-4 724
17. UCLA 15-4 544
18. Memphis 16-3 530
19. Illinois 17-3 401
20. Gonzaga 14-4 381
21. Villanova 15-4 276
22. Saint Mary's 18-1 247
23. Washington 15-4 218
24. Kentucky 16-4 217
25. Georgetown 12-6 189


Others Receiving Votes
Notre Dame 154, Minnesota 138, Kansas 84, Florida 65, Missouri 52, Virginia Tech 37, Baylor 34, West Virginia 32, Davidson 27, Utah State 23, Dayton 14, California 13, UNLV 4, Florida State 3, Ohio State 1, Virginia Commonwealth 1.


Dropped From Rankings
Notre Dame 19, Minnesota 21, Florida 24.

ESPN/USA Today Poll


1. Duke (30) 18-1 774
2. Connecticut (1) 18-1 733
3. Pittsburgh 18-1 706
4. Wake Forest 16-1 666
5. Oklahoma 19-1 663
6. North Carolina 17-2 636
7. Louisville 15-3 547
8. Marquette 17-2 538
9. Michigan State 16-3 475
10. Xavier 17-2 458
11. Clemson 17-2 425
12. Texas 14-4 402
13. Butler 18-1 384
14. Arizona State 16-3 378
15. Syracuse 17-4 321
16. UCLA 15-4 311
17. Purdue 15-4 267
18. Saint Mary's 18-1 212
19. Memphis 16-3 193
20. Illinois 17-3 181
21. Villanova 15-4 113
22. Notre Dame 12-6 97
23. Georgetown 12-6 92
24. Minnesota 17-3 84
25. Gonzaga 14-4 60


Others Receiving Votes
Florida 59, Utah State 56, Kentucky 50, Baylor 42, Washington 41, California 31, Missouri 22, Dayton 18, Davidson 14, Kansas 13, Brigham Young 6, Florida State 3, UNLV 2, Virginia Tech 1, West Virginia 1.


 

 

Ryter’s Block: For three straight weeks we have watched a No. 1 team fall. Duke was very impressive in man-handling Maryland and shutting Greivis Vasquez up. We may see a new No. 1 next week as Duke will have a tough test Wednesday at Wake Forest. Any of the top 6 teams in the nation could be ranked at No. 1. Their combined record is 106-7. I think this week’s top 10 in the AP poll is spot on. I shouldn’t even have to point out that I don’t agree with the Coaches’ poll but this week I was very displeased. How are both Notre Dame and Georgetown ranked in the coaches’ poll? Both teams are 12-6, meanwhile Kentucky (16-4) and Washington (15-4) aren’t ranked. I also think that Georgetown should have dropped off of the AP poll as well. Missouri may be the next team to crack the top 25. If the Tigers beat Baylor on Saturday they should be in next week’s polls. I think that St. Mary’s should be ranked ahead of Gonzaga in the AP poll. I am excited to see the outcome of their game this Thursday. As conference play heats up, things will sort themselves out.

 

Games to watch this week…

 

Monday 1/26:                          No. 8 Marquette at No. 22 Notre Dame

 

Tuesday 1/27:                         No. 12 Texas at Baylor

 

Wednesday 1/28:                    No. 1 Duke at No. 4 Wake Forest

                                                No. 3 Pittsburgh at No. 21 Villanova

 

Thursday 1/29:                        No. 18 St. Mary’s at No. 25 Gonzaga

                                                No. 20 Illinois at No. 24 Minnesota

 

Weekend:                                21 ranked teams in action

 

What do you think about this week's polls? Post your thoughts below:

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