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NCAA Men’s Basketball: George Washington Enters National Polls While Oregon And Utah Drops Out

By Daniel Benjamin
Published on: 08:46 PST, Dec 15, 2015

The NCAA men’s basketball Division I national polls were released today, with Michigan State sitting on top of both the Associated Press’ Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls for a second straight week.

Michigan State (11-0) was one of two teams to receive first-place votes in the Associated Press’ Poll and one of three teams to receive first-place votes from the Coaches Poll. The Spartans received 64 of 65 first place votes and 1,621 total points from AP writers. In the meanwhile, they received 28 first place votes and 794 points from the Coaches.

Michigan State rolled over Maryland-Eastern Shore (78-35) and then held on for a 58-52 victory over Florida on Saturday. The Spartans are now one victory short of matching the best start in school history, according to ESPN-. The 2000-01 squad won 12 straight.

Michigan State’s next game is at Northeastern on December 19.

Kansas (8-1) received the other first-place vote from the writers and is ranked-No. 2 in the AP Poll. However, the Jayhawks are ranked No. 5 in the Coaches Poll with 664 points. Kansas went 2-0 last week.

No. 2 Iowa State (9-0) and No. 3 Oklahoma (7-0) received the other first-place votes in the Coaches Poll. The Cyclones went 3-0 for the week, defeating Buffalo, Iowa, and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Iowa State hosts Northern Iowa, which knocked North Carolina from the top of the rankings several weeks ago on December 19.

The AP had four teams drop from the rankings — Gonzaga, Vanderbilt, Oregon, and Utah — and Oregon and Utah fell from the Coaches poll.

George Washington (9-1) enters the AP Poll and Coaches Poll for the first time all year and is slated at No. 21 and No. 22, respectively. The Colonials have won three straight since their five-point loss (61-55) to No. 24 Cincinnati in the semifinals of the Barclays Center Classic. George Washington also defeated Virginia earlier this year.

No. 22 UCLA (7-3), No. 24 Texas A&M (8-2) and No. 25 Connecticut (6-3) also are newcomers to the AP Poll this week. No. 25 South Carolina (8-0) is the other newcomer to the Coaches Poll.

Biggest Movers

Up and Down

George Washington was the biggest mover up the polls. The Colonials moved up eight spots in the Associated Press Poll (No. 29 to No. 21) and nine places in the Coaches Poll (No.31-to-No. 22). George Washington defeated Penn State (76-66) and Rutgers (83-49) this past week.

According to GW Men’s Basketball Twitter, this is the first time since 2006 that George Washington is ranked in the Coaches Poll.

North Carolina (7-2) was the biggest loser in the poll, falling eight spots in the writer’s poll from No. 11 to No. 3. The Tar Heels lost their only game this past week at Texas (84-82). However, the bigger concern for UNC is the fact that they will be without junior center Kennedy Meeks for two weeks (bone bruise on left knee).

Meeks is averaging 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game while shooting 59.5 percent from the floor. He will miss at least the next three Tar Heel games — Tulane, UCLA and Appalachian State. North Carolina also dropped eight paces to No. 11 in the Coaches Poll.

Teams of the Week:

Oklahoma and UCLA

Oklahoma went 2-0 during the week, pummeling then-No.9 Villanova (78-55) in Pearl Harbor as the Sooners canned 14- 3-pointers.

Oklahoma, which never trailed, received 19 points from Isaiah Cousins and 18 from Buddy Hield. The Sooners also over-matched Oral Roberts (96-73) at home.

UCLA defeated then-No. 20 Gonzaga (71-66) in Spokane as Isaac Hamilton dropped 20 points on the Bulldogs. The victory is the Bruins’ second over a Top 25 team this season and gives them a 2-1 record versus ranked opponents this year.

[Photo by Al Goldis/AP]

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