Iowa men's hoops cracks national top-25 poll for first time this season
It's not quite an improbable story, but anybody who told you after Iowa's home loss to DePaul last month that the men's basketball team would find itself ranked before the calendar year flipped to 2020 would almost have to be lying.
Yet, that's where Fran McCaffery's bunch finds itself heading into the Christmas holiday, after the Hawkeyes inched into the fold at No. 25 in Monday's latest Associated Press rankings.
The Des Moines Register uses the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll as its default set of rankings, and Iowa (9-3, 1-1 Big Ten Conference) is the first team outside the ledger in 26th.
The Hawkeyes' 77-70 victory Saturday night over Cincinnati in the Chicago Legends event has Iowa on a 5-2 run dating to their performance in the Las Vegas Invitational that included the season-sparking win over then-No. 12 Texas Tech.
Iowa closes the nonconference portion of the schedule with a 3 p.m. Sunday home game against Kennesaw State.
Northern Iowa (11-1) continues to receive votes in both major sets of rankings. The Panthers begin conference play at Illinois State on New Year's Eve.
FULL ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL
- Gonzaga (13-1), 1,608 points
- Ohio State (11-1), 1,520
- Louisville (11-1), 1,460
- Duke (10-1), 1,429
- Kansas (9-2), 1,388
- Oregon (10-2), 1,286
- Baylor (9-1), 1,207
- Auburn (11-0), 1,107
- Memphis (10-1), 1,040
- Villanova (9-2), 950
- Michigan (9-3), 889
- Butler (11-1), 853
- Maryland (10-2), 785
- Michigan State (9-3), 775
- San Diego State (12-0), 763
- Virginia (9-2), 595
- Florida State (10-2), 583
- Dayton (9-2), 541
- Kentucky (8-3), 411
- Penn State (10-2), 332
- Washington (9-2), 326
- West Virginia (10-1), 229
- Texas Tech (8-3), 178
- Arizona (10-3), 153
- Iowa (9-3), 125
Others receiving votes: Wichita State 112, Colorado 79, Xavier 68, DePaul 54, Indiana 45, Liberty 40, Utah State 36, Saint Mary's 29, Marquette 28, Tennessee 24, Northern Iowa 23, Creighton 12, Purdue 11, Georgetown 9, Stanford 7, BYU 4, St. John's 4, Virginia Tech 3, Seton Hall 2, East Tennessee State 1, Yale 1
USA TODAY COACHES' POLL
- Gonzaga (13-1), 785 points [23 first-place votes]
- Ohio State (11-1), 754 [7]
- Duke (10-1), 717
- Louisville (11-1), 707 [2]
- Kansas (9-2), 676
- Baylor (9-1), 594
- Oregon (10-2), 588
- Auburn (11-0), 579
- Villanova (9-2), 502
- Memphis (10-1), 462
- Butler (11-1), 432
- Maryland (10-2), 386
- Virginia (9-2), 362
- San Diego State (12-0), 356
- Michigan (9-3), 338
- Michigan State (9-3), 311
- Florida State (10-2), 298
- Dayton (9-2), 281
- Kentucky (8-3), 220
- Washington (9-2), 158
- Penn State (10-2), 146
- Texas Tech (8-3), 105
- West Virginia (10-1), 88
- Arizona (10-3), 85
- Wichita State (10-1), 70
Dropped out: No. 21 Tennessee; No. 23 North Carolina; No. 25 VCU.
Others receiving votes: Iowa 54; Colorado 42; Seton Hall 37; Xavier 36; Tennessee 34; Utah St. 30; Purdue 26; Northern Iowa 24; Marquette 24; Stanford 17; Creighton 15; Indiana 14; St. Mary's 12; North Carolina 11; DePaul 9; VCU 7; Liberty 5; Arkansas 2; Oklahoma 1.