Michigan now No. 2 in coaches’ poll; Michigan State gets a vote
Just in time for March, a wild week produced some major movement in the Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.
Gonzaga, now the last unbeaten team in Division I, remains No. 1, picking up 31 of 32 firstplace votes. Michigan moves up to No. 2 and claims the remaining first-place nod.
Baylor falls just one spot to No. 3 after sustaining its first loss of the season at Kansas. The Jayhawks climb five places to No. 14 on the strength of that victory. Illinois is back up to No. 4, grinding out a couple of tough wins without player-of-the-year candidate Ayo Dosunmu.
West Virginia is the week’s biggest mover, vaulting eight spots all the way up to a tie for No. 5 with Alabama. The Mountaineers have won six of their last seven games after defeats of TCU and Kansas State last week.
Houston gains three slots to check in at No. 7. Iowa is back in the top 10 at No. 8 following Sunday big win at Ohio State. The Buckeyes, who have dropped three games in a row, slip to No. 10 behind No. 9 Villanova.
Other teams on the rise include Arkansas, up seven places to No. 13, and Oklahoma State, gaining four places to No. 17 after upending Bedlam rival Oklahoma. The Sooners fall seven spots to No. 15 but have an immediate opportunity to avenge that loss to the Cowboy on Monday night.
Purdue rejoins the poll at No. 23, replacing fellow Big Ten member Wisconsin.
Michigan State, which knocked off top-five teams Illinois and Ohio State at home last week before losing at Maryland on Sunday, got one vote.
NIT moves to Texas
DALLAS – The NIT is moving the entire 2021 event to Texas, taking the semifinals and championship game out of New York’s Madison Square Garden for the first time in the 83year history of college basketball’s oldest postseason tournament.
The pandemic is also reducing the field to 16 teams from the usual 32, and all games are set for the Dallas area. The two venues are the University of North Texas in Denton and an arena in Frisco that is home to a G League team affiliated with the Dallas Mavericks.
First-round games will be played March 1720, with the quarterfinals March 25. The semifinals are set for March 27, followed by the championship game the next day. Specific arenas for each round weren’t announced Monday.
The field for the NIT will be announced after the NCAA tournament is set March 14.
The NIT champion has been crowned in New York every year since the tournament started in 1938. Earlier rounds normally are held at the venues of designated home teams.
FSU extends Hamilton
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 11 Florida State has extended coach Leonard Hamilton’s contract through the 2024-25 season.
The school announced the extension Monday, with the deal set to keep Hamilton on the FSU sideline until he is 76 years old. It will pay about $562,500 for the remainder of this season and then about $2.3 million for each of the next four seasons.