Oklahoma is still on the outside looking in of the newest Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports.
The Sooners received 21 points in the receiving votes category. That total is up from the 13 points Oklahoma received in the Dec. 13 poll and the seven points OU received in the Dec. 6 poll.
Defending national champion Baylor is the nation’s No. 1 team for the second consecutive week. The Bears received 800 points and are 10-0 after winning at Oregon over the weekend 78-70.
Duke is ranked No. 2 and Purdue is No. 3. Gonzaga and Arizona each received 673 points and are both ranked No. 4.
The rest of the top 10 looks like this: No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Kansas, No. 8 Iowa State, No. 9 USC and No. 10 Michigan State.
Two other Big 12 teams are ranked in the Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll. Texas is ranked No. 17 and Texas Tech just snuck into the poll at No. 25.
West Virginia is also in the receiving votes category where the Mountaineers received 23 points.
Senior guard Umoja Gibson led the Sooners with a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds in Oklahoma’s 70-50 win over UT Arlington.
Afterwards, Oklahoma head men’s basketball coach Porter Moser praised his guard’s ability to accept coaching and Gibson’s work ethic.
“Everybody respects him because of how hard he works. He puts in so much time with his shot. I mean, he’s here like literally almost every single morning getting extra shots in. What I love about Mo is I challenged him after the Butler game to do more than shooting and I challenged him pretty aggressively.
“He took it to heart. Sometimes you can coach a really good player hard and try to tell them the truth and they don’t believe it. Even if he didn’t believe it, he went out and tried to prove that he’s a better defender, better rebounder, more all-around player. Man, he has done a lot of different things. His best couple defensive games the last couple games, his best rebounding games and he’s been more of a complete player. That’s a credit to him and his character,” Moser said.
Oklahoma returns to action on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center when the Sooners host Alcorn State.
Full Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports
| Rank | Team | Record | Points | Change |
| 1 | Baylor | 10-0 | 800 | – |
| 2 | Duke | 10-1 | 754 | – |
| 3 | Purdue | 10-1 | 689 | +1 |
| 4 | Gonzaga | 9-2 | 673 | – |
| 4 | Arizona | 11-0 | 673 | – |
| 6 | UCLA | 9-1 | 670 | -3 |
| 7 | Kansas | 9-1 | 639 | – |
| 8 | Iowa State | 11-0 | 501 | +3 |
| 9 | USC | 12-0 | 480 | – |
| 10 | Michigan State | 9-2 | 446 | +2 |
| 11 | Alabama | 9-2 | 422 | -3 |
| 12 | Auburn | 10-1 | 412 | +2 |
| 13 | Ohio State | 8-2 | 400 | +2 |
| 14 | Houston | 10-2 | 398 | -1 |
| 15 | Seton Hall | 9-1 | 383 | +1 |
| 16 | LSU | 11-0 | 254 | +4 |
| 17 | Texas | 8-2 | 243 | – |
| 18 | Kentucky | 8-2 | 217 | +3 |
| 19 | Tennessee | 8-2 | 215 | -1 |
| 20 | Xavier | 11-1 | 204 | +5 |
| 21 | Colorado St | 10-0 | 203 | +2 |
| 22 | Villanova | 7-4 | 158 | -12 |
| 23 | Providence | 11-1 | 149 | +4 |
| 24 | Wisconsin | 9-2 | 129 | +2 |
| 25 | Texas Tech | 8-2 | 89 | -1 |
Schools Dropped Out
No. 19 Arkansas; No. 22 Connecticut
Others Receiving Votes
Arkansas 36; Connecticut 34; Illinois 24; West Virginia 23; Oklahoma 21; Loyola-Chicago 16; Minnesota 15; San Francisco 12; Wake Forest 9; Saint Mary’s 3; Florida 2; Brigham Young 2; Michigan 1; Indiana 1
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