A loss to rival Connecticut in their final Big East Conference meeting has cost the Syracuse Orange two spots in the latest Associated Press college basketball poll.
Syracuse’s 76-65 win at Seton Hall on Saturday wasn’t enough to keep the Orange men from sliding, after a disappointing 66-58 loss to the Huskies Wednesday night. The Orange are still the highest-ranked team in the Big East, ahead of Louisville at #10 and rival Georgetown at 11.
The Orange are also ranked 8th in this week's coaches poll, which was released early Monday afternoon.
In other Syracuse basketball news, guard Brandon Triche was named to the Big East honor roll after his career-high 29 point effort vs. the Pirates. He averaged 19 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4 assists in two games. Georgetown forward Otto Porter was named player of the week. UConn's Omar Calhoun was named rookie of the week in part for his 15 point, 6 rebound performance vs. SU.
Syracuse hosts the Hoyas this Saturday at 4:00. A potential record Carrier Dome crowd could be on hand to see the final Big East home game between Georgetown and Syracuse. Before that, the Orange host the Providence Friars Wednesday night in the last conference matchup between the two schools.
In the rest of the AP poll, Indiana has held on to the No. 1 spot for the third straight week.
The Hoosiers received 43 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel Monday.
Miami had 20 No. 1 votes and moved up one spot to second. Gonzaga, with the other two first-place votes, climbed two spots to third.
Michigan State rose from eighth to No. 4 and was followed by Florida, Duke, Michigan, Syracuse, Kansas and Louisville.
VCU was the only newcomer to the poll this week. The Rams, who had been out of the rankings the last three weeks, moved in at No. 24. The only team to fall out of the rankings was Kentucky, which was No. 25 and dropped out after losing Florida and Tennessee last week.
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 17, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:
1. Indiana (43) 23-3 1,597 1
2. Miami (20) 21-3 1,571 3
3. Gonzaga (2) 25-2 1,428 5
4. Michigan St. 22-4 1,416 8
5. Florida 21-3 1,387 7
6. Duke 22-3 1,308 2
7. Michigan 22-4 1,264 4
8. Syracuse 21-4 1,125 6
9. Kansas 21-4 1,077 14
10. Louisville 21-5 1,011 12
11. Georgetown 19-4 952 15
12. Arizona 21-4 924 9
13. Kansas St. 20-5 848 10
14. Oklahoma St. 19-5 786 17
15. Butler 21-5 659 11
16. New Mexico 22-4 654 19
17. Marquette 18-6 524 18
18. Ohio St. 18-7 458 13
19. Wisconsin 18-8 406 20
20. Pittsburgh 20-6 370 16
21. Memphis 22-3 362 22
22. Colorado St. 21-4 307 24
23. Oregon 21-5 216 23
24. VCU 21-5 123 -
25. Notre Dame 20-6 79 21
Others receiving votes: Saint Louis 58, Minnesota 52, Louisiana Tech 48, Illinois 46, Cincinnati 20, NC State 20, Akron 16, Missouri 4, Middle Tennessee 3, Maryland 2, Saint Mary's (Cal) 2, Creighton 1, Wichita St. 1.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
