#18 Men's Basketball Jumps Four Spots in AP Poll; #1 UConn Next
1/15/2024 12:01:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Get ready for a Top 25 showdown on Wednesday in Storrs
OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men's basketball team moved to 18th in the Associated Press poll and 15th in the USA Today Coaches poll released on Monday. The Bluejays are also No. 13 in the updated version of the NET and No. 19 in the KPI.
CU won both games it played last week to stretch its winning streak to four, crushing DePaul (84-58) before upending St. John's (66-65). The victories improved the Bluejays to 13-4 on the season, and 4-2 in BIG EAST play.
Creighton's best AP ranking in program history is seventh, done five times (Jan. 16, 2017, March 10, 2020, March 18, 2020, Jan. 7, 2021 and Nov. 28, 2022). CU owns 27 weeks in the AP Top 10 in its history, with all but one of those recognitions coming during Greg McDermott's tenure.
Including today's ranking, Creighton has now been ranked by the AP 131 times in program history, with 104 of those under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 163-67 all-time as a ranked team, including a 129-55 figure under McDermott. Creighton has been ranked at least one week in 10 of McDermott's 14 seasons on The Hilltop after doing it just five different seasons in program history before his 2010 arrival.
Creighton is one of three BIG EAST Conference schools in the top 25, joining No. 1 Connecticut, No. 17 Marquette. Seton Hall, is just outside the Top 25 and third among those "also receiving votes". The top five teams in the poll are now Connecticut, Purdue, Kansas, North Carolina and Houston.
Creighton is also one of six schools in the country with both its men's and women's teams ranked in this week's AP Top 25, joining Baylor, Iowa State, Marquette, North Carolina and Connecticut.
The Bluejays have a pair of road games this week, visiting top-ranked Connecticut on Wednesday at 6 p.m. Central before heading to Seton Hall for a game on Saturday at 11 a.m. Central. Both games will air on FS1. This will be UConn's 29th week ever ranked No. 1, but first time since the week of Feb. 2, 2009. Creighton is 0-5 all-time against teams that are atop the AP poll.
Associated Press Top 25
Jan. 15, 2024
Rk   School   W-L    PTS
1Â Â Â Connecticut (39)Â Â Â 15-2Â Â Â 1542
2Â Â Â Purdue (20)Â Â Â 15-2Â Â Â 1506
3Â Â Â Kansas (3)Â Â Â 14-2Â Â Â 1426
4Â Â Â North Carolina (1)Â Â Â 13-3Â Â Â 1407
5   Houston   14-2   1236
6   Tennessee   12-4   1147
7   Duke   13-3   1130
8   Kentucky   12-3   1123
9   Baylor   14-2   1055
10   Memphis   15-2   987
11   Wisconsin   13-3   948
12   Arizona   12-4   918
13   Auburn   14-2   905
14   Illinois   12-4   660
15   Oklahoma   13-3   633
16   Utah State   16-1   538
17   Marquette   11-5   516
18   Creighton   13-4   433
19Â Â Â TCUÂ Â Â 13-3Â Â Â 293
20Â Â Â BYUÂ Â Â 13-3Â Â Â 270
21   Dayton   13-2   261
22   Ole Miss   15-1   236
23   Florida Atlantic   13-4   221
24   Iowa State   13-3   195
25   Texas Tech   14-2   191  Â
Others receiving votes:Â Â Colorado State 169, San Diego State 153, Seton Hall 89, Alabama 60, Grand Canyon 49, Clemson 38, Boise State 22, Nevada 22, Texas 20, Oregon 17, St. John's 15, New Mexico 14, NC State 8, Princeton 5, Gonzaga 5, Utah 3, Mississippi State 3, South Carolina 2, Villanova 2, McNeese State 1, James Madison 1.
USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll
Jan. 15, 2024
Rk   School   W-L    PTS
1Â Â Â Connecticut (20)Â Â Â 15-2Â Â Â 785
2Â Â Â Purdue (12)Â Â Â 15-2Â Â Â 762
3   North Carolina   13-3   717
4   Kansas   14-2   713
5   Houston   14-2   619
6   Duke   13-3   590
7   Tennessee   12-4   574
8   Wisconsin   13-3   533
9   Baylor   14-2   523
10   Kentucky   12-3   514
11   Auburn   14-2   509
12   Memphis   15-2   489
13   Arizona   12-4   424
14   Illinois   12-4   319
15   Creighton   13-4   261
16   Oklahoma   13-3   239
17   Utah State   16-1   238
18   Marquette   11-5   214
19Â Â Â BYUÂ Â Â 13-3Â Â Â 174
20   Iowa State   13-3   152
21   Ole Miss   15-1   151
22Â Â Â TCUÂ Â Â 13-3Â Â Â 150
23   Dayton   13-2   130
24   San Diego State   14-3   102
25   Texas Tech   14-2   92
Others receiving votes:Â Colorado State 81; Florida Atlantic 67; Alabama 60; Seton Hall 40; Clemson 39; Grand Canyon 34; Texas 20; Nevada 14; Gonzaga 11; Oregon 10; North Carolina State 9; Villanova 8; James Madison 8; Princeton 7; St. John's 6; Florida State 4; Wake Forest 2; Nebraska 2; Florida 2; New Mexico 1; Indiana State 1.
