OMAHA, Neb. — Double-digit home wins over Seton Hall and Marquette last week helped the Creighton men’s basketball team improve to 10th in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls released on Monday. It’s a two-spot jump in both rankings.
The Bluejays also stayed at No. 11 in the updated version of the NET and No. 14 in the KPI.
It’s the 17th time in 18 polls this season that Creighton has been included in both the AP and Coaches rankings. The NET ranking matches last week as the team’s best position on a Monday since being ninth on December 18th, and the AP poll position of 10th is its best since being eighth on December 11, 2023.
Creighton picked up a pair of double-digit home victories last week, downing Seton Hall (85-64) before handling No. 5 Marquette (89-75). Creighton is now 22-8 on the season and 13-6 in BIG EAST play.
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 28 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 three times.
Including today’s ranking, Creighton has now been ranked by the AP 138 times in program history, with 111 of those under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 172-71 all-time as a ranked team, including a 138-59 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 is one of three BIG EAST Conference schools in the top 25, joining No. 3 Connecticut and No. 8 Marquette. The top five teams in the AP poll are Houston, Purdue, Connecticut, Tennessee and Arizona.
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.
The Bluejays close the regular-season on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Central when it visits Villanova for a game that will be nationally-televised on FOX.
Associated Press Top 25
March 4, 2024
Rk School W-L PTS
1 Houston (52) 26-3 1539
2 Connecticut (6) 26-3 1462
3 Purdue (4) 26-3 1459
4 Tennessee 23-6 1364
5 Arizona 23-6 1252
6 Iowa State 23-6 1212
7 North Carolina 23-6 1201
8 Marquette 22-7 1056
9 Duke 23-6 1051
10 Creighton 22-8 983
11 Baylor 21-8 901
12 Illinois 22-7 834
13 Auburn 22-7 746
14 Kansas 21-8 723
15 Kentucky 21-8 711
16 Alabama 20-9 592
17 South Carolina 24-5 579
18 Washington State 23-7 484
19 Gonzaga 24-6 396
20 BYU 21-8 343
21 San Diego State 22-7 338
22 Utah State 24-5 285
23 Saint Mary’s 24-7 268
24 South Florida 22-5 154
25 Dayton 22-6 50
Others receiving votes: Nevada 42, Florida 39, Boise State 26, Texas 10, Texas Tech 10, Indiana State 9, Appalachian State 6, New Mexico 5, FAU 4, James Madison 4, Princeton 3, Michigan State 2, Villanova 2, Colorado State 2, McNeese State 2, Richmond 1.
USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll
March 4, 2024
Rk School W-L PTS
1 Houston (28) 26-3 795
2 Connecticut (3) 26-3 757
3 Purdue (1) 26-3 745
4 Tenessee 23-6 705
5 Arizona 23-6 644
6 Iowa State 23-6 644
7 North Carolina 23-6 628
8 Duke 23-6 541
9 Marquette 27-7 531
10 Creighton 22-8 487
11 Baylor 21-8 452
12 Illinois 22-7 423
13 Kentucky 21-8 396
14 Auburn 22-7 376
15 Kansas 21-8 366
16 South Carolina 24-5 298
17 Alabama 20-9 289
18 Gonzaga 24-6 215
19 San Diego State 22-7 194
20 Washington State 23-7 182
21 Saint Mary’s 24-7 175
22 Utah State 24-5 151
23 BYU 21-8 140
24 South Florida 22-5 88
25 Florida 20-9 42
Others receiving votes: Dayton 31; Texas Tech 24; Nevada 24; Boise State 16; Appalachian State 13; James Madison 10; Oklahoma 8; Northwestern 7; Clemson 5; Indiana State 5; TCU 4; Wake Forest 3; Nebraska 1.
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