Bulldogs Climb Six Spots In ESPN/USA Today Poll
12/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2009
McLEAN, Va. - Gonzaga is ranked 16th in this week's ESPN/USA Today men's basketball Top 25, the Bulldogs moving up six spots in this week's poll.
Duke, who will face the Bulldogs Saturday in Madison Square Garden in New York, moved up on spot to seventh in this week's balloting of coaches. Saturday's meeting will be the second between the schools in four years, both coming in the Garden. The Blue Devils won the inaugural meeting.
Kentucky climbed a spot to No. 3 and picked up a first-place vote in rankings which were released on Monday.
Kansas (9-0) and Texas (8-0) continue to lead the ratings, voted upon by 31 NCAA Division I men's basketball coaches. The Jayhawks had 30 first-place votes to easily outdistance the Longhorns.
Kentucky (10-0) moved up a spot after Villanova, No. 3 last week, fell six spots after losing Sunday to Temple. Kentucky defeated No. 12 Connecticut on Wednesday, then buried Indiana on Saturday behind the stellar play of freshman phenom John Wall.
Purdue (9-0), Syracuse (10-0), West Virginia (7-0), Duke (7-1) and Tennessee (7-1) all climbed a spot, thanks to Villanova's loss.
Villanova fell to No. 9, one spot ahead of North Carolina, which remained No. 10.
There is one top-10 matchup on the schedule for this week, a Saturday matinee with North Carolina visiting Texas (2 p.m. ET). Also on Saturday, Duke hosts No. 15 Gonzaga.
The USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches Top 25 college basketballcoaches' poll, with number of first-place votes and recordin parentheses, total points and previous ranking:(Records through December 13, 2009) TEAM PTS PVS ---- --- --- 1. KANSAS (30) (9-0) 774 1 2. TEXAS (8-0) 735 2 3. KENTUCKY (1) (10-0) 701 4 4. PURDUE (9-0) 675 5 5. SYRACUSE (10-0) 658 6 6. WEST VIRGINIA (7-0) 631 7 7. DUKE (7-1) 547 8 8. TENNESSEE (7-1) 528 9 9. VILLANOVA (9-1) 524 310. NORTH CAROLINA (8-2) 497 1011. GEORGETOWN (8-0) 494 1312. MICHIGAN ST (8-2) 423 1413. FLORIDA (8-1) 367 1114. CONNECTICUT (6-2) 358 1215. GEORGIA TECH (6-1) 229 2116. GONZAGA (8-2) 229 2217. BUTLER (7-3) 184 2018. OHIO ST (7-2) 176 1519. NEW MEXICO (10-0) 164 NR20. TEXAS TECH (9-0) 150 NR21. WASHINGTON (6-2) 146 1622. KANSAS ST (9-1) 136 NR23. UNLV (7-1) 112 1724. CLEMSON (8-2) 110 2425. OLE MISS (8-1) 77 NRDropped Out: No. 24 CLEMSON, No. 17 UNLV, No. 23 WISCONSINOthers Receiving Votes: CINCINNATI 76, TEXAS A&M 58,WISCONSIN 58, ILLINOIS 25, TEMPLE 24, MEMPHIS 21, FLORIDA ST20, BYU 17, SAINT MARYS CA 17, OKLAHOMA ST 15, WAKE FOREST15, CHARLOTTE 14, ST JOHNS 14, NORTHWESTERN 13, DAYTON 9,SETON HALL 9, TULSA 9, WASHINGTON ST 9, WILLIAM & MARY 9,CALIFORNIA 7, MISSOURI ST 3, WESTRN CAROLINA 3, MISSISSIPPIST 2, BAYLOR 1, COASTL CAROLINA 1, NORTHERN IOWA 1
