Chattanooga Times Free Press

Blue Raiders in AP Top 25 for first time

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RALEIGH, N.C. — Middle Tennessee State has upset power-conference teams in the past two NCAA tournament­s and reached 20 wins for the third straight season. Now the Blue Raiders have another milestone: their first appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Middle Tennessee checked in at No. 24 in Monday’s latest poll and will play as a ranked team for the first time Saturday at home against UAB as part of the week’s national Top 25 schedule.

“The sustainabi­lity part is what you strive for,” MTSU coach Kermit Davis said. “I just think it’s the culture of it. Since I’ve been here, you’re just striving to kind of get your brand like a Gonzaga or a Butler or schools that just kind of do it every year.”

The Blue Raiders (22-5, 14-1 Conference USA) are certainly doing that these days.

Two seasons ago, they won 25 games and pulled the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament by beating Final Four favorite and second-seeded Michigan State in the opening round. They followed that by winning 31 games last year and beating fifth-seeded Minnesota in the first round.

They have gone 23-3 in road games over two seasons, including a 12-1 record this season after Saturday’s win at Louisiana Tech.

The Blue Raiders are led by Alabama graduate transfer Nick King, who started his career at Memphis. The 6-foot-7 forward is averaging 21.4 points and 8.4 rebounds.

Middle Tennessee is trying to maintain its hold on the Conference USA lead with Old Dominion and Western Kentucky sitting a game back in the loss column. The Blue Raiders have three home games left, including March 1 against WKU’s Hilltopper­s.

Davis said he doesn’t think the ranking will be a distractio­n — “If we get beat, that’s not going to be the reason why,” he said — but it is something he said the Blue Raiders plan to savor with a few days off before playing again.

“It’s great for our players; it’s great for our fan base,” Davis said. “You’re trying to grow your fan base, so it is (important). We all understand that we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us and big games. But you better believe it, the Middle Tennessee faithful around the country will love seeing their name in the AP poll.”

Virginia on the verge

Top-ranked Virginia (24-2, 13-1) can wrap up the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season race this week.

The Cavaliers lead fifthranke­d Duke by three games in the loss column and own the head-to-head tiebreaker from their win at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 27, so they can clinch at least a share of the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed for the ACC tournament in Brooklyn by beating Georgia Tech tonight.

If they win that one, they can win the title outright Saturday at Pittsburgh, which is 0-15 in the league.

Weekend top-10 tests

There’s a top-10 matchup in the Big 12 this week with No. 8 Kansas visiting No. 6 Texas Tech on Saturday, with the Jayhawks seeking to avenge an 85-73 home loss to the Red Raiders on Jan. 2.

That’s part of a test-filled weekend for some top-tier teams, with No. 2 Michigan State (at Wisconsin), No. 3 Villanova (at Creighton) and No. 6 Gonzaga (at BYU) all playing on the road.

 ?? ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO ?? Middle Tennessee forward Nick King celebrates in the final seconds of the team’s 77-58 win over Mississipp­i in December in Murfreesbo­ro, Tenn. The Blue Raiders checked in at No. 24 in Monday’s latest AP Top 25 for the first ranking in program history.
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE PHOTO Middle Tennessee forward Nick King celebrates in the final seconds of the team’s 77-58 win over Mississipp­i in December in Murfreesbo­ro, Tenn. The Blue Raiders checked in at No. 24 in Monday’s latest AP Top 25 for the first ranking in program history.

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