OMAHA, Neb. — A last-second road win over perennial power Villanova on Saturday helped the Creighton men’s basketball team improve to No. 8 in the Associated Press and sixth in the USA Today Coaches polls released on Monday. It’s a big jump at the right time for Creighton, which was 10th in both polls last Monday.
The Bluejays also stayed at No. 11 in the updated version of the NET for the third straight week and improved one spot to No. 13 in the KPI.
It’s the 18th time in 19 polls this season that Creighton has been included in both the AP and Coaches rankings. The NET ranking matches the last two weeks as the team’s best position on a Monday since being ninth on December 18th, and the AP poll position is its best since also being eighth on December 11, 2023.
Creighton never trailed on Saturday in a 69-67 win at Villanova, racing to a 32-8 start before needing a Trey Alexander game-winner with 0.2 seconds left to pull out a 69-67 victory. Creighton ends the regular-season with a 23-8 record and its 14-6 mark in conference play matches a program record for BIG EAST wins in a season.
Creighton’s best AP ranking in program history is seventh, done five times (Jan. 16, 2017, March 10, 2020, March 18, 2020, Jan. 7, 2021 and Nov. 28, 2022). CU owns 29 weeks in the AP Top 10 in its history, with all but one of those recognitions coming during Greg McDermott‘s tenure. Creighton’s best AP rank this year is eighth, done four times including this week.
Including today’s ranking, Creighton has now been ranked by the AP 139 times in program history, with 112 of those under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 173-71 all-time as a ranked team, including a 139-59 figure under McDermott. Creighton has been ranked at least one week in 10 of McDermott’s 14 seasons on The Hilltop after doing it just five different seasons in program history before his 2010 arrival.
Creighton’s No. 6 ranking in the Coaches poll is a season-best mark, as the Jays were 7th on Nov. 13 and Nov. 20th. The program’s best Coaches poll ranking ever was No. 5 on Jan. 4, 2021. CU was most recently sixth a week later on Jan. 11, 2021.
Creighton is one of three BIG EAST Conference schools in the top 25, joining No. 2 Connecticut and No. 10 Marquette. The top five teams in the AP poll are Houston, Connecticut, Purdue, North Carolina and Tennessee.
Creighton is also one of five schools in the country with both its men’s and women’s teams ranked in this week’s AP Top 25, joining Baylor, Connecticut, Gonzaga and South Carolina.
After earning the No. 2 seed in the upcoming BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep, Creighton (23-8, 14-6 BIG EAST) will face either Providence or Georgetown on Thursday at 6 p.m. Central on FS1.
Associated Press Top 25
March 11, 2024
Rk School W-L PTS
1 Houston (52) 28-3 1540
2 UConn (6) 28-3 1471
3 Purdue (4) 28-3 1453
4 North Carolina 25-6 1361
5 Tennessee 24-7 1291
6 Arizona 24-7 1125
7 Iowa State 24-7 1120
8 Creighton 23-8 1094
9 Kentucky 23-8 1018
10 Marquette 23-8 1011
11 Duke 24-7 976
12 Auburn 24-7 914
13 Illinois 23-8 802
14 Baylor 22-9 786
15 South Carolina 25-6 567
16 Kansas 22-9 558
17 Gonzaga 24-6 511
18 Utah State 26-5 486
19 Alabama 21-10 432
20 BYU 22-9 381
21 Saint Mary’s 24-7 306
22 Washington State 23-8 239
23 Nevada 26-6 223
24 Dayton 24-6 155
25 Texas Tech 22-9 149
Others receiving votes: Boise State 46, South Florida 27, San Diego State 21, Drake 16, Texas 14, James Madison 14, FAU 11, Florida 8, Princeton 7, Nebraska 6, New Mexico 4, Colorado 2, McNeese State 2, Colorado State 1, Wake Forest 1, Indiana State 1.
USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll
March 11, 2024
Rk School W-L PTS
1 Houston (29) 28-3 772
2 UConn 28-3 732
3 Purdue (2) 28-3 728
4 North Carolina 25-6 671
5 Tennessee 24-7 653
6 Creighton 23-8 569
7 Arizona 24-7 566
8 Iowa State 24-7 546
9 Kentucky 23-8 513
10 Marquette 23-8 487
11 Duke 24-7 481
12 Auburn 24-7 423
13 Baylor 22-9 387
14 Illinois 23-8 385
15 Gonzaga 24-6 274
16 South Carolina 25-6 273
17 Kansas 22-9 256
18 Utah State 26-5 249
19 Alabama 21-10 217
20 Saint Mary’s 24-7 193
21 BYU 22-9 166
22 Nevada 26-6 109
23 Texas Tech 22-9 104
24 Dayton 24-6 103
25 Washington State 23-8 82
Others receiving votes: Boise State 30; San Diego State 19; James Madison 19; Florida 17; Drake 15; South Florida 11; Nebraska 7; Oklahoma 6; Florida Atlantic 6; Colorado 3; Princeton 1; Northwestern 1; Indiana State 1.
