Kentucky drops out of top ten in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Kentucky falls outside the top ten in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

The Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team didn’t end the season on the note they would have liked. After getting hot at the end of the regular season, they lost their first game of the SEC Tournament to Texas A&M.

On Sunday, the Cats found out they would be a three seed in the NCAA Tournament, and would open March Madness on Thursday evening against Oakland in Pittsburgh.

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It’s still interesting to see where the Wildcats were ranked after their SEC Tournament loss, and on Monday, the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll put the Wildcats just outside the top ten. The final pre-March Madness poll has them 12th.

The top 25 polls don’t determine the National Champion. That will be decided in the NCAA Tournament. However, it’s interesting to not where the teams wound up after conference tourneys. It was a roller-coaster ride this season for Kentucky in the polls, but 12th isn’t a bad spot to end up in going into March Madness.

Here is the full top 25.

Rank Team Record PTS 1st Prev Chg Hi/Lo
1
UConn
31-3 800 32 2
+1
1/5
2
Houston
30-4 752 0 1
-1
1/6
3
Purdue
29-4 740 0 3 1/4
4
Iowa State
27-7 697 0 8
+4
4/NR
5
North Carolina
27-7 672 0 4
-1
3/21
6
Tennessee
24-8 595 0 5
-1
4/13
7
Auburn
27-7 573 0 12
+5
6/NR
8
Marquette
25-9 560 0 10
+2
3/18
9
Arizona
25-8 544 0 7
-2
1/13
10
Illinois
26-8 508 0 14
+4
8/NR
11
Creighton
23-9 506 0 6
-5
6/NR
12
Kentucky
23-9 415 0 9
-3
6/20
13
Baylor
23-10 411 0 13 6/19
14
Duke
24-8 400 0 11
-3
3/21
15
Saint Mary’s
26-7 297 0 20
+5
15/NR
16
Gonzaga
25-7 220 0 15
-1
8/NR
17
South Carolina
26-7 218 0 16
-1
11/NR
18
Alabama
21-11 197 0 19
+1
13/NR
19
Utah State
27-6 193 0 18
-1
17/NR
20
Kansas
22-10 188 0 17
-3
1/20
21
BYU
23-10 182 0 21 12/NR
22
Texas Tech
23-10 134 0 23
+1
15/NR
23
Florida
24-11 130 0 NR
+6
23/NR
24
Wisconsin
22-13 110 0 NR 6/NR
25
San Diego State
24-10 74 0 NR
+2
15/NR

Duke slips down in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll before March Madness

The Blue Devils dropped in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll after last week’s loss to NC State, but how far did they fall?

Duke basketball suffered in the eyes of coaches after the NC State upset loss in the ACC Tournament.

The Blue Devils dropped three spots down to 14th in the poll released on Sunday after the quarterfinal loss to the Wolfpack, even though the in-state foes went on to win the conference crown.

Duke now sits 24-8 on the year after back-to-back losses against UNC (who dropped one spot to fifth in the rankings) and NC State.

The Blue Devils dropped below Auburn, Illinois, and Baylor.

Connecticut, the defending national champion, retook the top spot in the rankings just as they did in the AP Poll released on Monday. The Huskies received all 32 first-place votes.

Houston, Purdue, and Iowa State took the next three spots in the ranking.

No other ACC teams appeared in the top 25, but NC State and Pittsburgh both received votes. The Panthers were one of the committee’s First Four Out.

Auburn baseball falls five spots in latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

While Auburn’s basketball team had an amazing weekend on Broadway, Auburn baseball had a rough go of it in the Music City.

While Auburn’s basketball team had an amazing weekend on Broadway, Auburn baseball had a rough go of it in the Music City.

The Tigers opened up the SEC season playing great baseball but received a slice of humble pie after getting swept by Vanderbilt over the weekend. None of Auburn’s three losses were particularly close. After an 8-inning, 11-1 loss to open the series, the Tigers’ pitching staff gave up another 13 runs in a 13-5 game two defeat. The final game of the three-game set was the closest, but again the Tigers had no answers for a potent Vanderbilt lineup in a 9-6 loss.

The USA TODAY Coaches Poll nearly dropped Butch Thompson’s Tigers from their rankings following the sweep, as Auburn dropped five spots from No. 19 to No. 24. Vanderbilt on the other hand jumped 7 spots from their previous from its previous ranking of No. 10 up to No. 3

Auburn will have a few days to dwell on its tough weekend before a mid-week game with South Alabama on Tuesday. The Tigers then will be in danger of dropping out of the top 25 when they welcome the No. 1 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks to Plainsman Park for the weekend.

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Duke baseball barely stays within top 10 of USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

After a series loss to Clemson at home, the Blue Devils barely clung on to one of the top 10 spots in the USA TODAY Sports Baseball Coaches Poll.

Duke baseball, now 15-5 so far this season, is still a top-10 team in the eyes of the nation’s coaches,

USA TODAY Sports released its updated NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll on Monday, and the Blue Devils only slid down to ninth despite a home series loss to Clemson over the weekend.

Duke defeated the Tigers on Friday, a 5-2 victory led by a great performance from ace Jonathan Santucci, but Clemson took the Saturday and Sunday games to steal the series in front of the Durham crowd.

The Tigers won the deciding Sunday game in 10 innings, hitting two home runs in the first extra frame after the game was knotted at four runs each after the bottom of the ninth.

Duke catcher Alex Stone was thrown out at home in the bottom of the ninth, the potential walk-off run, after he tried to make it all the way around on a double from teammate AJ Gracia.

Clemson jumped up to fifth, the highest ACC team in the rankings. Arkansas remained first, with Oregon State, Vanderbilt, and LSU rounding out the top four.

Five other ACC teams appeared in the top 25, led by Virginia at 11th and Florida State in 12th. Wake Forest (14th), North Carolina (17th), and Virginia Tech (23rd) also appeared.

Clemson baseball up to No. 5 in USA TODAY Sports coaches poll

Clemson moved up four spots to No. 5 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 18.

Clemson moved up four spots to No. 5 in the new USA TODAY Sports baseball coaches poll, released Monday, March 18.

Coach Erik Bakich’s Tigers are 17-2 overall and went 4-1 last week after taking two of three from Duke at Jack Coombs Field in Durham over the weekend. It’s the team’s highest ranking this season in the coaches poll after having been ranked ninth the past two weeks.

Arkansas (17-2) remained No. 1 after outscoring Missouri by a combined 23-1 margin in a three-game sweep. Oregon State (17-2) moved up one spot to No. 2.

Vanderbilt (18-3) made one of the biggest leaps in this week’s poll, jumping seven spots to land at No. 3 after sweeping Auburn on Sunday.

Reigning national champion LSU (17-4) fell from No. 2 to No. 4 after dropping two of three to Mississippi State over the weekend.

Texas A&M fell two spots to No. 6. Tennessee, Florida, Duke and Alabama rounded out the top 10.

Unbeaten Florida State (18-0), which visits Clemson for a three-game weekend series beginning Friday, moved up 10 spots to No. 12 in the coaches poll.

The Tigers will host Winthrop Tuesday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in midweek action. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

Iowa State, Auburn climb in pre-tournament top 25 coaches poll update

The last coaches poll ahead of the NCAA Tournament sees Iowa State and Auburn climbing.

The Iowa State Cyclones might not have received much love with their No. 2 seed in the East bracket, but they did jump into the top four of the latest coaches poll. Iowa State quickly dispatched the then No. 1-ranked Houston Cougars in the Big 12 championship game, 69-41 to secure the title.

Focus for the Cyclones now will shift to the No. 15 seeded South Dakota State in the first round. Much like Iowa State, the Auburn Tigers saw a rise in the latest polls after winning the SEC Tournament over the Florida Gators on Sunday. The Tigers are currently No. 7 overall and earned the No. 4 seed in the East bracket. The aforementioned Gators jumped six spots into the top 25 to land at No. 23.

No team had a more massive fall than the Nevada Wolfpack going from No. 22 to No. 30 after getting bounced in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament by the Colorado State Rams, 85-78. They will take on Dayton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

A look at the full Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports:

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 UConn 31-3 800 (32) +1
2 Houston 30-4 752 -1
3 Purdue 29-4 740
4 Iowa State 27-7 697 +4
5 North Carolina 27-7 672 -1
6 Tennessee 24-8 595 -1
7 Auburn 27-7 573 +5
8 Marquette 25-9 560 +2
9 Arizona 25-8 544 -2
10 Illinois 26-8 508 +4
11 Creighton 23-9 506 -5
12 Kentucky 23-9 415 -3
13 Baylor 23-10 411
14 Duke 24-8 400 -3
15 Saint Mary’s 26-7 297 +5
16 Gonzaga 25-7 220 -1
17 South Carolina 26-7 218 -1
18 Alabama 21-11 197 +1
19 Utah State 27-6 193 -1
20 Kansas 22-10 188 -3
21 BYU 23-10 182
22 Texas Tech 23-10 134 +1
23 Florida 24-11 130 +6
24 Wisconsin 22-13 110
25 San Diego State 24-10 74 +2

Schools Dropped Out

No. 22 Nevada; No. 24 Dayton; No. 25 Washington State

Others Receiving Votes

New Mexico 68; Washington State 63; James Madison 30; Dayton 30; Nevada 29; Drake 29; Nebraska 12; North Carolina State 11; Colorado 4; Indiana State 2; Boise State 2; Pittsburgh 1; Michigan State 1; McNeese State 1; Grand Canyon 1

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Wisconsin basketball returns to top 25 of USA TODAY Coaches Poll

Wisconsin basketball returns to top 25 of USA TODAY Coaches Poll

Wisconsin basketball rode a stellar week at the Big Ten Tournament to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Badgers open play with No. 12 seed James Madison, a tough opening draw. The winner gets the No. 4 Duke-No. 13 Vermont winner. The path may seem daunting, but it also represents a terrific opportunity for Greg Gard’s team to put together a memorable March.

Related: Wisconsin Badgers vs. James Madison Dukes: TV channel, betting line, game notes for NCAA Tournament Round of 64

Wisconsin’s resurgence since this time last week has its NCAA Tournament outlook on the rise. The 3-1 week — wins against Maryland, Northwestern and Purdue and a narrow loss to Illinois — also returned the team to the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

The Badgers are No. 24,  a big jump from not even receiving votes last week. Other Big Ten teams in the top 25 are Purdue at No. 3 and Illinois at No. 10.

Wisconsin tips off its NCAA Tournament Friday night in Brooklyn, New York, as Gard’s squad looks to make its first Sweet 16 since 2016-17.

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North Carolina, Creighton on the move in new Coaches Poll

For the third consecutive week, Houston was No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

Houston was No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

It’s the third straight week the Cougars (28-3 overall) were ranked No. 1 in both the coaches poll and AP Top 25 poll.

UConn (28-3) remained at No. 2 and Purdue (28-3) stayed at No. 3 in the new poll, released Monday.

Houston received 29 first-place votes after a 30-point blowout win over Big 12 rival Kansas to clinch the conference’s regular season title and continue making its case for the No. 1 overall seed in this month’s NCAA Tournament.

A big mover in the top 10 was North Carolina (25-6), which climbed three spots from last week’s poll to No. 4 after its 84-79 victory over Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday night.

North Carolina’s regular-season series sweep of Duke saw the Tar Heels move back into the top five for the first time in four weeks — when they were ranked fifth back on Feb. 12.

Duke (24-7) dropped three spots to No. 11 in the coaches poll. No other ACC school was ranked or received consideration from the 32 NCAA coaches who make up the poll.

Tennessee (24-7) rounded out the top five. The Volunteers defeated South Carolina last week to win the SEC’s regular season title but fell to Kentucky in Knoxville on Saturday to drop one spot from No. 4.

John Calipari’s Wildcats (23-8) were a big mover from last week’s rankings, climbing four spots to jump back into the top 10 at No. 9.

No. 6 Creighton (23-8) also moved up four spots after the Bluejays’ 89-75 win over Marquette (23-8). Arizona and Iowa State (both 24-7) fell two spots to Nos. 7 and 8, respectively. Marquette fell one spot to round out the top 10.

Florida, San Diego State, and South Florida fell out of the top 25.

Kentucky inside the top ten in new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

Kentucky cracks into the top ten in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

The Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team has been on a wild ride in the top 25 polls this season. They made their way into the top ten after really good non-conference play, getting all the way up to number six.

Once SEC play began, they began to slide. After losing three straight games at Rupp Arena, they were nearly outside the top 25 completely.

Since then, the Wildcats have been climbing steadily. They won seven out of eight games, including big road wins over the Auburn Tigers and, most recently, the Tennessee Volunteers. They also beat a ranked Alabama Crimson Tide team in Lexington.

Kentucky closed the season with five consecutive wins, and that has boosted them up the rankings again this week. In Monday’s USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, the Wildcats have moved up into the top ten, coming in at number nine. That’s up four spots from the previous week.

The SEC Tournament is up next, and if all goes well, a top three seed in the NCAA Tournament could follow.

Here is the rest of the Coaches Poll.

Rank Team Record PTS 1st Prev Chg Hi/Lo
1
Houston
28-3 772 29 1 1/6
2
UConn
28-3 732 0 2 1/5
3
Purdue
28-3 728 2 3 1/4
4
North Carolina
25-6 671 0 7
+3
3/21
5
Tennessee
24-7 653 0 4
-1
4/13
6
Creighton
23-8 569 0 10
+4
6/NR
7
Arizona
24-7 566 0 5
-2
1/13
8
Iowa State
24-7 546 0 6
-2
6/NR
9
Kentucky
23-8 513 0 13
+4
6/20
10
Marquette
23-8 487 0 9
-1
3/18
11
Duke
24-7 481 0 8
-3
3/21
12
Auburn
24-7 423 0 14
+2
6/NR
13
Baylor
22-9 387 0 11
-2
6/19
14
Illinois
23-8 385 0 12
-2
8/NR
15
Gonzaga
24-6 274 0 18
+3
8/NR
16
South Carolina
25-6 273 0 16 11/NR
17
Kansas
22-9 256 0 15
-2
1/17
18
Utah State
26-5 249 0 22
+4
17/NR
19
Alabama
21-10 217 0 17
-2
13/NR
20
Saint Mary’s
24-7 193 0 21
+1
17/NR
21
BYU
22-9 166 0 23
+2
12/NR
22
Nevada
26-6 109 0 NR
+5
22/NR
23
Texas Tech
22-9 104 0 NR
+4
15/NR
24
Dayton
24-6 103 0 NR
+2
16/NR
25
Washington State
23-8 82 0 20
-5
20/NR

Florida falls out of USA TODAY Coaches Poll top 25 at regular-season end

The Gators fell out of the Coaches Poll top 25 for the first time in three weeks after the Vandy loss.

The college basketball regular-season schedule has come to a close and what a campaign it has been for the Florida Gators. After struggling to find their identity early on, followed by a perfect month of December but a slow start to Southeastern Conference play most really did not know what to think of this year’s squad midway through January.

However, Todd Golden’s team finally found its stride in the second-half stretch, winning 10 of its last 14 games — though they did finish on a sour note.

The Orange and Blue split its games this past week, blowing out the Alabama Crimson Tide at home by double-digits while losing on the road at the Vanderbilt Commodores in the final minute by just one point. As a result, the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll dropped Todd Golden’s team out of the top 25 — but they still retained 17 votes.

Last week, Florida was ranked No. 25 and included in the upper echelon of the rankings for the second straight week. That week prior, Florida was ranked No. 24 marking the first time in the Golden era that the Gators cracked the Coaches Poll top 25.

Before that, they received 40 votes giving it a de facto ranking of No. 28; the week prior, the Gators garnered just eight votes.

Around the Southeastern Conference, the Tennessee Volunteers are ranked No. 5, followed by the Kentucky Wildcats (No. 9), Auburn Tigers (No. 12), South Carolina Gamecocks (No. 16) and Alabama Crimson Tide (No. 19). No other SEC teams received votes.

Florida is a No. 6 seed in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, giving it a first-round bye and matching the Gators up with the winner of Game 2 on Thursday, March 14, inside Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Tipoff is slated for a late 9:30 p.m. ET start on the SEC Network.

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