PSU makes historic AP jump
Penn State men’s basketball reached its highest national poll ranking in the history of the program when it landed at No. 9 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25.
The Nittany Lions also reached that level in in 1954 and 1996, but never higher.
Penn State added to a school-record eight-game Big Ten Conference winning streak by beating Purdue and Northwestern last week and moved up fourth spots from No. 13. The Nittany Lions also are ranked No. 9 in the USA Today coaches poll.
Losses by Kentucky, Auburn, Seton Hall and Louisville (twice) aided Penn State’s rise.
The Nittany Lions (20-5, 104) have done their latest damage while missing secondleading scorer Myreon Jones with a persistent virus that has benched him for the past three games. He recovered well enough to join his teammates on the bench in street clothes Saturday against Northwestern and likely could see limited playing time Tuesday night against Illinois.
Baylor and Kansas are setting up a monumental showdown Saturday between the top-ranked Bears and No. 3 Jayhawks that could help decide not only the Big 12 title but the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament.
The two teams were separated once again by Gonzaga. The Bears (23-1) had 48 firstplace votes from the 63-member media panel, while the Bulldogs (26-1) had 14 firstplace nods and the Jayhawks (22-3) had the only remaining first-place vote.
San Diego State (26-0) remained Division I’s final unbeaten team and was No. 4.
Women
Connecticut’s record streak of top five appearances in The AP poll is over. The Huskies fell to sixth, ending a run of 253 consecutive weeks as one of the first five teams in the Top 25. That historic stretch dated to Feb. 5, 2007. Connecticut’s run dwarfs the No. 2 all-time mark of 96 set by Louisiana Tech in the 1980s.
The longest current streak now is held by No. 1 South Carolina at 11. The Gamecocks had a hand in ending the Huskies run by routing Connecticut early last week. The Huskies’ three losses this season have come to the Gamecocks, No. 2 Baylor and third-ranked Oregon. South Carolina earned 27 first-place votes from the national media panel. Baylor received two and Oregon one.