On a 7-game streak, Arizona State a spot outside AP Top 25 Poll
Feb 24, 2020, 10:46 AM
Arizona State Sun Devils guard Alonzo Verge Jr. (11) and Arizona State Sun Devils forward Romello White (23) react to a big play during the college basketball game between the Oregon State Beavers and the Arizona State Sun Devils on February 22, 2020 at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
A five-game winning streak hardly got Arizona State’s men’s basketball team much attention. Two more consecutive victories might’ve done it.
ASU basketball is a spot outside The Associated Press Top 25 Poll released Monday and garnered 95 points after receiving a single point a week ago.
The Sun Devils knocked off then-No. 14 Oregon last Thursday before dropping Oregon State on Sunday to extend the winning streak to seven games. ASU is now alone atop the Pac-12 standings with a 10-4 record in conference play.
Oregon remains No. 14 in the poll after recovering to beat the then-No. 24 Arizona Wildcats on Saturday. Colorado (21) is the only other ranked Pac-12 team.
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Arizona fell out of the top-25 but still garnered 71 points in the voting as the third team outside the rankings this week.
Meanwhile, Kansas is back on top of the college basketball world after knocking off Baylor in a matchup of Big 12 heavyweights, while the Bears dropped to No. 2 in the men’s poll Monday after their nip-and-tuck loss in Waco.
The Jayhawks (24-3, 13-1 Big 12) received 62 of 64 first-place votes from the national media panel to take over the No. 1 ranking for the second time this season. Kansas also was atop the poll for one week in December, when it seemed as if just about every school that ascended to No. 1 promptly lost in a topsy-turvy start to the season.
Baylor (24-2, 13-1) received two first-place votes and fell to second after its 23-game winning streak came to an end. Gonzaga was No. 3 after a loss to BYU, and Dayton jumped San Diego State for No. 4 after the Aztecs lost for the first time in a week when every team in the top 10 found itself in a new position from last week.
RISING AND FALLING
The Blue Jays climbed from No. 15 into the top 10 for the first time since the 2016-17 season after beating then-No. 19 Marquette and then-No. 21 Butler last week. Their streak has moved them to within a game of Seton Hall — which climbed from No. 16 to No. 13 this week — in what has become an intriguing race for the Big East title.
The biggest jump this week came from BYU, which followed a victory over Santa Clara with a resounding 91-78 win over Gonzaga. The Cougars climbed six spots to No. 17 with their eighth straight victory.
Penn State took the biggest tumble from ninth to No. 16 after losses to Illinois and Indiana, while West Virginia fell three spots to No. 20 and Colorado dropped three spots to No. 21.
IN AND OUT
Michigan shot back into the Top 25 at No. 19 this week after the Wolverines ran their winning streak to five straight and seven of eight with victories at Purdue and Rutgers. Texas Tech and Michigan State also returned to the poll with the Red Raiders at No. 22 and the Spartans at No. 24.
Marquette tumbled from No. 19 all the way out after losing to Creighton and unranked Providence. Butler fell out from No. 21 and Arizona from No. 24 after the Wildcats lost in overtime to Oregon on Saturday.
AP Top 25 Poll
Others receiving votes: Arizona State 95, Illinois 82, Arizona 71, Butler 51, Virginia 50, Marquette 41, Stephen F. Austin 29, LSU 24, East Tennessee State 13, Utah State 9, Florida 8, Wisconsin 7, New Mexico State 2, Liberty 2, Northern Iowa 2, UCLA 1
Dropped from rankings: Marquette 19, Butler 21, Arizona 24
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
