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IOWA MEN'S BASKETBALL

Iowa enters coaches' poll top 25 for first time this season, inches up in AP rankings

Danny Lawhon
Hawk Central
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The week of Christmas generally doesn't offer too much moving and shaking in the college basketball polls. It's the deep breath before the full conference plunge.

But Iowa will be looking at a number next to its name in both major sets of rankings in the first breaths of 2020.

Iowa (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten Conference) clambered up two spots in The Associated Press' rankings to 23rd on the heels of Sunday's 93-51 pasting of Kennesaw State on Sunday. The Hawkeyes had entered the AP rankings at No. 25 last week. (Editor's note: The Register's Chad Leistikow is a voter in the AP poll and had Iowa ranked 19th.)

Fran McCaffery's bunch is now inside the top 25 of the USA TODAY Coaches' Poll as well for the first time this season, coming in at No. 25 in Monday's latest ranking. The Des Moines Register uses the coaches' poll as its primary rankings indicator.

Gonzaga retains the top spot in the coaches' poll, with Ohio State dropping to fifth from second after its loss Sunday to now-No. 17 West Virginia.

The Hawkeyes move to their uninterrupted Big Ten slate with a stern test at No. 21 Penn State (11-2, 1-1) at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Northern Iowa (11-1) remains in the receiving votes category, in what would be the 29th spot in the coaches' poll and in 30th among the AP ballots.

USA TODAY COACHES' POLL

  1. Gonzaga (13-1) [30 first-place votes], 798 points
  2. Duke (11-1) [1], 753
  3. Kansas (10-2) [1], 730
  4. Baylor (9-1), 639
  5. Ohio State (11-2), 621
  6. Oregon (11-2), 619
  7. Auburn (12-0), 578
  8. Louisville (11-2), 570
  9. Villanova (9-2), 507
  10. Butler (12-1), 489
  11. Memphis (11-1), 461
  12. San Diego State (13-0), 382
  13. Michigan (10-3), 357
  14. Kentucky (9-3), 348
  15. Maryland (11-2), 341
  16. Michigan State (10-2), 316
  17. West Virginia (11-1), 311
  18. Dayton (10-2), 291
  19. Virginia (10-2), 280
  20. Florida State (11-2), 244
  21. Penn State (11-2), 244
  22. Texas Tech (9-3), 112)
  23. Wichita State (11-1), 82
  24. Arizona (10-3), 74
  25. Iowa (10-3), 62

Dropped out: No. 20 Washington.

Others receiving votes: Washington 38; Utah St. 38; Xavier 34; Northern Iowa 28; Marquette 27; Colorado 27; St. Mary's 21; Purdue 20; Creighton 15; DePaul 14; Arkansas 14; Seton Hall 13; North Carolina 7; Houston 6; VCU 3; Florida 3; Liberty 2.

ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL

  1. Gonzaga (13-1) [63], 1,621
  2. Duke (11-1) [1], 1,516
  3. Kansas (10-2), 1,497
  4. Oregon (11-2), 1,361
  5. Ohio State (11-2), 1,277
  6. Baylor (9-1), 1,267
  7. Louisville (11-2), 1,196
  8. Auburn (12-0), 1,159
  9. Memphis (11-1), 1,055
  10. Villanova (9-2), 970
  11. Butler (12-1), 883
  12. Michigan (10-3), 880
  13. San Diego State (13-0), 780
  14. Michigan State (10-3), 747
  15. Maryland (11-2), 720
  16. West Virginia (11-1), 719
  17. Kentucky (9-3), 674
  18. Florida State (11-2), 531
  19. Virginia (10-2), 506
  20. Dayton (10-2), 483
  21. Penn State (11-2), 312
  22. Texas Tech (9-3), 175
  23. Iowa (10-3), 137
  24. Wichita State (11-1), 135
  25. Arizona (10-3), 113

Others receiving votes: Colorado 74, Xavier 58, DePaul 47, Washington 40, Northern Iowa 32, Utah State 30, Saint Mary's 28, Marquette 27, Arkansas 19, Purdue 12, Georgetown 10, Creighton 10, Indiana 5, Houston 4, St. John's 3, Virginia Tech 3, East Tennessee State 2, Seton Hall 2, BYU 2, Stanford 1, Yale 1, Florida 1

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