CLOSE

Iowa coach Fran McCaffery knew Cincinnati was going to make a charge. How did his team overcome it? Hear what he has to say: Hawk Central

LINKEDINCOMMENTMORE

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

  1. Gonzaga (13-1), 1,608 points
  2. Ohio State (11-1), 1,520
  3. Louisville (11-1), 1,460
  4. Duke (10-1), 1,429
  5. Kansas (9-2), 1,388
  6. Oregon (10-2), 1,286
  7. Baylor (9-1), 1,207
  8. Auburn (11-0), 1,107
  9. Memphis (10-1), 1,040
  10. Villanova (9-2), 950
  11. Michigan (9-3), 889
  12. Butler (11-1), 853
  13. Maryland (10-2), 785
  14. Michigan State (9-3), 775
  15. San Diego State (12-0), 763
  16. Virginia (9-2), 595
  17. Florida State (10-2), 583
  18. Dayton (9-2), 541
  19. Kentucky (8-3), 411
  20. Penn State (10-2), 332
  21. Washington (9-2), 326
  22. West Virginia (10-1), 229
  23. Texas Tech (8-3), 178
  24. Arizona (10-3), 153
  25. 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

  1. Gonzaga (13-1), 785 points [23 first-place votes]
  2. Ohio State (11-1), 754 [7]
  3. Duke (10-1), 717
  4. Louisville (11-1), 707 [2]
  5. Kansas (9-2), 676
  6. Baylor (9-1), 594
  7. Oregon (10-2), 588
  8. Auburn (11-0), 579
  9. Villanova (9-2), 502
  10. Memphis (10-1), 462
  11. Butler (11-1), 432
  12. Maryland (10-2), 386
  13. Virginia (9-2), 362
  14. San Diego State (12-0), 356
  15. Michigan (9-3), 338
  16. Michigan State (9-3), 311
  17. Florida State (10-2), 298
  18. Dayton (9-2), 281
  19. Kentucky (8-3), 220
  20. Washington (9-2), 158
  21. Penn State (10-2), 146
  22. Texas Tech (8-3), 105
  23. West Virginia (10-1), 88
  24. Arizona (10-3), 85
  25. 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.

LINKEDINCOMMENTMORE