Despite quiet schedule, ASU men’s basketball moving up the rankings
Dec 9, 2024, 12:14 PM
The Arizona State men’s basketball schedule has been light of late.
But with just a game played in the past week, the Sun Devils keep climbing in the rankings.
ASU with 143 points is the second team outside the top 25 of The Associated Press rankings, which were updated Monday. It was a few notches up after being the fifth team out of the rankings a week prior.
Arizona State is also 30th in the USA Today Coaches poll and 34th in the NET ratings considered at the end of the season for NCAA Tournament seeding.
ASU last recorded a 90-53 win against San Diego on Tuesday, moving its record to 8-1.
The Sun Devils got 19 points from freshman Joson Sanon off the bench and 19 more from forward Basheer Jihad. Freshman big man Jayden Quaintance recorded 10 points with nine rebounds and five blocks as well.
Arizona State next plays No. 9 Florida on Saturday.
Atop the poll, Tennessee is the new No. 1 in men’s college basketball after a massive shakeup in the AP’s top 25 this week.
The Vols received 58 first-place votes from a 62-person media panel Monday to reach No. 1 for the first time since the 2018-19 season. Tennessee climbed two spots from last week after Kansas lost twice and Auburn fell to No. 4 Duke. The Tigers remained No. 2 and received three first-place votes.
No. 3 Iowa State had one first-place vote and climbed three places from last week for its highest ranking since 1956-57. Kentucky rounded out the top five.
In all, 14 ranked teams lost last week, including six teams in the top 10; Kansas and then-No. 11 Wisconsin lost twice. Only two teams — Auburn and No. 12 Oregon — remained in the same poll spots they were a week ago and the volatility saw five teams jump into the rankings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
AP Top 25 men’s basketball rankings
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Tennessee (58) | 8-0 | 1544 | 3 |
| 2. Auburn (3) | 8-1 | 1438 | 2 |
| 3. Iowa St. (1) | 7-1 | 1424 | 6 |
| 4. Duke | 7-2 | 1295 | 9 |
| 5. Kentucky | 8-1 | 1284 | 4 |
| 6. Marquette | 9-1 | 1274 | 5 |
| 7. Alabama | 7-2 | 1126 | 10 |
| 8. Gonzaga | 7-2 | 1082 | 7 |
| 9. Florida | 9-0 | 1030 | 13 |
| 10. Kansas | 7-2 | 940 | 1 |
| 11. Purdue | 8-2 | 840 | 8 |
| 12. Oregon | 9-1 | 784 | 12 |
| 13. Oklahoma | 9-0 | 567 | 21 |
| 14. Michigan | 8-1 | 522 | – |
| 15. Houston | 5-3 | 514 | 17 |
| 16. Clemson | 9-1 | 491 | – |
| 17. Texas A&M | 8-2 | 415 | 22 |
| 18. UConn | 7-3 | 394 | 25 |
| 19. Mississippi | 8-1 | 379 | 23 |
| 20. Wisconsin | 8-2 | 307 | 11 |
| 21. Michigan St. | 8-2 | 292 | – |
| 22. Cincinnati | 7-1 | 288 | 14 |
| 23. San Diego St. | 6-2 | 276 | 24 |
| 24. UCLA | 8-1 | 229 | – |
| 25. Mississippi St. | 8-1 | 179 | – |
Others receiving votes: Baylor 150, Arizona St 143, Memphis 123, Missouri 119, Penn St. 90, Arkansas 89, Drake 67, Pittsburgh 62, Utah St. 57, Illinois 47, St. John’s 43, Maryland 39, Dayton 38, Creighton 32, Indiana 30, West Virginia 30, North Carolina 24, Georgia 21, Saint Mary’s 20, Texas 8, Rhode Island 3, Loyola Chicago 1.
USA Today Coaches Top 25 rankings
| Rank | School (record) | Points | Last week’s ranking | First-place votes |
| 1 | Tennessee (8-0) | 770 | 3 | 26 |
| 2 | Auburn (8-1) | 732 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | Iowa State (7-1) | 697 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Marquette (9-1) | 655 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | Kentucky (8-1) | 651 | 6 | 0 |
| 6 | Duke (7-2) | 628 | 9 | 0 |
| 7 | Florida (9-0) | 548 | 13 | 0 |
| 8 | Alabama (7-2) | 545 | 12 | 0 |
| 9 | Gonzaga (7-2) | 474 | 8 | 0 |
| 10 | Kansas (7-2) | 468 | 1 | 0 |
| 11 | Purdue (8-2) | 440 | 7 | 0 |
| 12 | Oregon (9-1) | 385 | 10 | 0 |
| 13 | Houston (5-3) | 304 | 18 | 0 |
| 14 | Michigan (8-1) | 275 | 23 | 0 |
| 15 | Mississippi (8-1) | 258 | 20 | 0 |
| 16 | Clemson (9-1) | 237 | NR | 0 |
| 17 | Oklahoma (9-0) | 233 | 21 | 0 |
| 18 | Texas A&M (8-2) | 197 | 24 | 0 |
| 19 | Michigan State (8-2) | 177 | 25 | 0 |
| 20 | Connecticut (7-3) | 165 | NR | 0 |
| 21 | UCLA (8-1) | 151 | NR | 0 |
| 22 | Wisconsin (8-2) | 139 | 11 | 0 |
| 23 | Cincinnati (7-1) | 124 | 14 | 0 |
| 24 | San Diego State (6-2) | 105 | NR | 0 |
| 25 | Baylor (5-3) | 99 | 16 | 0 |
Others receiving votes: Mississippi State (8-1) 93; Illinois (6-2) 72; St. John’s (7-2) 51; Pittsburgh (8-2) 50; Arizona State (8-1) 45; Maryland (8-2) 42; Memphis (7-2) 39; Drake (8-0) 35; Utah State (9-0) 32; Penn State (8-1) 30; Saint Mary’s (9-1) 28; Missouri (8-1) 21; Creighton (7-3) 20; Georgia (8-1) 18; West Virginia (6-2) 11; Arkansas (7-2) 10; Texas (7-2) 5; UC Irvine (9-0) 5; Dayton (8-2) 4; Loyola Chicago (8-0) 2; North Carolina (5-4) 2; Texas Tech (7-2) 2; LSU (8-1) 1.
