UConn became the first unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll this season, while Washington State jumped up the rankings Monday at No. 21 to end a 302-week drought dating back to the 2007-08 season.
The Huskies remained atop the poll for the sixth straight week after a blowout over DePaul and an impressive 81-53 win over then-No. 4 Marquette over the weekend. They received all 62 first-place votes from a panel of national media members, earning the 16 first-place votes that Purdue lost when the Boilermakers fell to Ohio State on Sunday.
UConn is enjoying the second-longest streak at the No. 1 ranking in school history behind a 10-week stay during the 1998-99 season, when the Jim Calhoun-coached team coached by Richard Hamilton and Khalid El- Amin beat Duke for the national championship. championship.
“All we can control is take a championship approach to the next game,” said UConn coach Dan Hurley, whose team was the second overall seed behind Purdue in the first look provided by the tournament selection committee. the NCAA over the weekend.
UConn has won 14 consecutive games, the longest streak in Division I men's basketball.
“We're just talking about championship-level focus, mentality and execution,” said Hurley, whose team is aiming to repeat the national championship for the first time since Florida in 2006-07. “We're not going to talk about rankings. There's no reason to talk about that.”
Houston cruised to an easy win against Texas over the weekend to move into second place ahead of Purdue, while Arizona moved up one spot to fourth and Tennessee moved up three spots to round out the top five.
Iowa State extended its winning streak to four in a row in the rugged Big 12 with wins over Cincinnati and Texas Tech last week, and that sent the Cyclones up four spots to No. 6. That's the highest ranking they've ever had. obtained the program since December 14. 2015.
Marquette fell three spots after its loss to the Huskies and was seventh. Duke was eighth, Kansas fell three spots to ninth after a lopsided loss to Texas Tech and a win over Oklahoma, and North Carolina rounded out the top 10.
Baylor ranked 11th and was followed by Illinois, Alabama, Auburn and Creighton. Dayton remained at No. 16, with Kentucky moving up five spots to No. 17. Saint Mary's was next after extending its winning streak to 13 games, and San Diego State jumped back into the poll at No. 19. Carolina South fell nine places. to 20th after losses to Auburn and LSU.
There were four newcomers or returning teams in the bottom five on Monday: Washington State at No. 21, followed by Colorado State, Texas Tech and Florida. BYU fell six spots but maintained its final position in the Top 25.
Washington State, which has won seven straight, returned to the poll for the first time since it was ranked No. 21 in the final rankings of the 2007-08 season. That team reached the Sweet 16 before losing to Final Four participant North Carolina.
The Cougars' first test as a ranked team will be a trip to No. 4 Arizona on Thursday night.
“It's the toughest place in the country to play,” Washington State coach Kyle Smith said. “They're going to have a really good crowd. You're going to have to withstand the attack. There's going to be a lot of juice in the building. That's the number one challenge: Can we handle that environment? But it's a privilege. The pressure is a privilege.”
The volatility that has marked the second half of the survey all season continued this week. The Aztecs, Cougars, Rams, Red Raiders and Gators rose in the rankings at the expense of Virginia, Wisconsin, Florida Atlantic, Indiana State and Oklahoma.
The Badgers have been in free fall since climbing to sixth place the last week of January, losing five of their last six. FAU rose to No. 7 the final week of December before last season's NCAA tournament favorite finally disappeared from the poll entirely.
Kentucky made the biggest jump among ranked teams last week, with impressive wins over Ole Miss and then-No. 13 Auburn to move up five spots to No. 17. Iowa State jumped four spots to land at sixth.
South Carolina's wild ride continued this week as well. The Gamecocks jumped out of the poll to No. 15 two weeks ago, rose four spots to No. 11 last week and then fell nine spots to No. 20 after a pair of losses last week.
The SEC tied with the Big 12 for the most teams in the survey with six each. The Big East had three, while the Big Ten, Pac-12, ACC and Mountain West each had two teams in the Top 25.
