U.Va., Virginia Tech rise in rank after ACC triumphs
Duke falls out of poll, leading to historic absence of three blueblood programs
Virginia and Virginia Tech are moving up, and Duke has moved out.
The Cavaliers (9-2, 5-0 ACC) climbed five spots to No. 13 in Monday’s Associated Press poll following Saturday’s impressive 85-50 blowout at Clemson, which fell from 12th to 20th.
The Hokies (11-2, 5-1 ACC) rose four spots to No. 16 on the heels of a win over Duke, which knocked the Blue Devils from the Top 25 for the first time since Feb. 8, 2016.
According to the ESPN Stats & Info Twitter timeline, Monday’s poll is the 1,213th in AP history and just the 14th time that Duke, Kentucky and North Carolina are all unranked. The last time that happened was on Dec. 18, 1961 — when only 10 teams were included in poll each week. The poll expanded from 20 to 25 teams for the 1989-90 season.
Gonzaga and Baylor maintained their grip on the top two spots. If third-ranked Villanova ever plays a game, perhaps it will make a run a them.
The Bulldogs again racked up all but the two first-place votes that went to the Bears, while the Wildcats remained firmly behind the preseason top two despite not playing a game since Dec. 23. They had a pair of COVID-19 pauses broken up by a single day, including one involving coach Jay Wright, effectively sidelining them for a month.
“Everyone has dealt with this,” said Wright, whose team finally should get back on the court tonight against Seton Hall. “It’s not just the days you are out. It’s getting the guys going after a pause.”
The same teams made up the top five this week, though Iowa and Texas swapped places. Luka Garza and the Hawkeyes moved into fourth after ripping Northwestern by 23 points on the road Sunday, while the Longhorns fell back a spot after their six-game winning streak was stopped by No. 12 Texas Tech in a narrow defeat earlier in the week.
“Obviously the loss on Wednesday
was devastating and really, really disappointing for our team and staff,” said Texas coach Shaka Smart, whose Longhorns — including senior point guard Matt Coleman from Norfolk — rebounded to beat Kansas State on the road Saturday. “We knew we had to turn the page. The guys were really mature with their approach on Thursday in practice and their film session Friday.”
Texas doesn’t play again until Saturday; its game against Iowa State was postponed.
Tennessee climbed from 10th to sixth and was followed by Michigan,
which remained No. 7 after losing its first game of the season to No. 17 Minnesota. Houston climbed three spots to eighth, Kansas fell three spots to ninth, and Wisconsin rounded out the top 10.
Creighton was No. 11, followed by the Red Raiders, Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio State.
The Golden Gophers were followed by No. 18 Auburn, one of this week’s poll newcomers, Missouri and Clemson. The last five in were Oregon, Illinois, Connecticut, UCLA and Saint Louis.
Bye, bye, Blue Devils
Duke dropped to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the ACC by losing to the Hokies last week. The Blue Devils’ streak of 91 weeks in the Top 25 was second only to Kansas, which extended its record to 229 weeks. Gonzaga is now No. 2 at 87 weeks.
“We’re still finding out about our team,” said coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose team nearly rallied from an 18-point deficit at Virginia Tech.
“We had not played in an ACC game like that . ... You don’t get better without experience.”