Men's Basketball Soars To 12th in Polls
2/26/2024 12:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Bluejays host Seton Hall and Marquette this week
OMAHA, Neb. -- A dominant win over No. 1 Connecticut helped the Creighton men's basketball team improve to 12th in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls released on Monday. It's a three-spot ascension in both polls. The Bluejays also improved two spots from last week to No. 11 in the updated version of the NET and up nine spots to No. 14Â in the KPI.
It's the 16th time in 17 polls this season that Creighton has been included in both the AP and Coaches rankings. The NET ranking is the team's best position on a Monday since being ninth on December 18th, and the AP poll position of 12th is its best since being in the same spot on Dec. 18th.
Creighton defeated then-No. 1 Connecticut 85-66 last Tuesday before dropping an 80-66 road game at St. John's on Sunday. The split moved the Bluejays to 20-8 on the season and 11-6 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. Creighton's best AP rank this year is eighth, done three times.
Including today's ranking, Creighton has now been ranked by the AP 137 times in program history, with 110 of those under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 170-71 all-time as a ranked team, including a 136-59 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. 3 Connecticut and No. 5 Marquette. The top five teams in the AP poll are Houston, Purdue, Connecticut, Tennessee and Marquette.
Creighton is also one of five schools in the country with both its men's and women's teams ranked in this week's AP Top 25, joining Baylor, Connecticut, Gonzaga and South Carolina.
The Bluejays host a pair of games this week, taking on Seton Hall on Wednesday at 8 p.m. before hosting No. 5 Marquette on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.
Associated Press Top 25
Feb. 26, 2024
Rk   School   W-L    PTS
1Â Â Â Houston (53)Â Â Â 24-3Â Â Â 1540
2Â Â Â Purdue (4)Â Â Â 25-3Â Â Â 1460
3Â Â Â Connecticut (5)Â Â Â 25-3Â Â Â 1459
4   Tennessee   21-6   1338
5   Marquette   21-6   1243
6   Arizona   21-6   1188
7   Kansas   21-6   1156
8   Iowa State   21-6   1155
9   North Carolina   21-6   1130
10   Duke   21-6   976
11   Auburn   21-6   862
12   Creighton   20-8   738
13   Illinois   20-7   726
14   Alabama   19-8   695
15   Baylor   19-8   689
16   Kentucky   19-8   649
17   Saint Mary's   23-6   646
18   South Carolina   22-5   471
19   Washington State   21-7   361
20   San Diego State   21-7   305
21   Dayton   21-5   261
22   Utah State   22-5   207
23   Gonzaga   22-6   184
24   Florida   19-8   140
25   South Florida   21-5   127
Others receiving votes: BYU 92, Texas Tech 65, Clemson 45, TCU 45, Wake Forest 44, Wisconsin 42, Nevada 25, Colorado State 20, Arizona State 17, New Mexico 10, FAU 8, Oklahoma 7, Nebraska 7, Mississippi State 5, Washington 4, Appalachian State 3, Northwestern 1, Boise State 1, McNeese State 1, Indiana State 1, Loyola Chicago 1.
USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll
Feb. 26, 2024
Rk   School   W-L    PTS
1Â Â Â Houston (25)Â Â Â 24-3Â Â Â 791
2Â Â Â UConn (3)Â Â Â 25-3Â Â Â 756
3Â Â Â Purdue (4)Â Â Â 25-3Â Â Â 755
4   Tennessee   21-6   698
5   Marquette   21-6   616
6   Iowa State   21-6   605
7   Arizona   21-6   597
8   North Carolina   21-6   589
9   Kansas   21-6   582
10   Duke   21-6   461
11   Auburn   21-6   426
12   Creighton   20-8   412
13   Alabama   19-8   372
14   Baylor   19-8   353
15   Kentucky   19-8   351
16   Illinois   20-7   348
17   Saint Mary's   23-6   332
18   South Carolina   22-5   214
19   San Diego State   21-7   153
20   Dayton   21-5   152
21   Washington State   21-7   149
22   Gonzaga   22-6   132
23   Utah State   22-5   114
24   Florida   19-8   98
25   South Florida   21-5   57
Others receiving votes: BYU 53; Wake Forest 51; TCU 36; Texas Tech 35; Wisconsin 20; Oklahoma 19; Clemson 15; Nevada 14; Virginia 10; Nebraska 8; Appalachian State 8; Seton Hall 7; Northwestern 3; Loyola Chicago 3; James Madison 2; Indiana State 2; Boise State 1.
