An upset win over No. 3 North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a follow-up win at Syracuse was enough to garner Clemson some votes in the latest AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll released Monday, February 12.
The Tigers (16-7 overall, 6-6 ACC) took a big step toward solidifying their NCAA Tournament résumé when they won at the ‘Dean Dome’ last week, then followed it up with a gutsy win at Syracuse over the weekend.
Those two victories weren’t enough to vault the Tigers back into the Top 25, but they netted Clemson 57 votes from the various sportswriters and broadcasters who make up the poll.
It’s the fifth consecutive week that Clemson has remained out of the Top 25 after having been ranked No. 16 entering the year. The Tigers have gone just 5-6 since then, all against ACC competition. Clemson returns to action Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST when they host Miami at Littlejohn Coliseum. The game will be televised by ESPN2.
Defending national champion UConn (22-2 overall), winners of 12 straight games and unbeaten since December 20, remained atop the AP poll for the fifth consecutive week. The Huskies received 45 first-place votes.
Purdue (22-2) remained at No. 2, Houston (21-3) moved up to No. 3, and Marquette (18-5) and Arizona (19-5) each moved up three spots to Nos. 4 and No. 5.
Despite its loss to Clemson, North Carolina (19-5) remained the ACC’s highest-ranked team at No. 7. The Tar Heels dropped four spots from last week’s poll.
Duke (18-5) remained at No. 9, and red-hot Virginia (19-5) moved into the Top 25. The Cavaliers have won eight straight games entering the week, including their 66-65 victory over Clemson on February 3.
The Big 12 had the most ranked teams of any conference with six total. The SEC was second with five.
Elsewhere around the AP poll, No. 10 Iowa State and No. 11 South Carolina jumped four spots apiece. Wisconsin suffered the biggest drop, falling nine spots to No. 20 in Monday’s rankings. The Badgers had been ranked No. 6 just two weeks earlier.
Kentucky’s recent skid has seen the Wildcats drop from No. 6 to No. 22 in recent weeks.