Creighton Men’s Basketball Ranked 13th in Year-End AP Poll; 10th in Coaches Poll

Creighton Men’s Basketball Ranked 13th in Year-End AP Poll; 10th in Coaches Poll
April 9th, 2024 | gocreighton.com

OMAHA, Neb. —  The Creighton men’s basketball team finished the 2023-24 season ranked 13th in the nation by the Associated Press and 10th in the USA Today Coaches poll. The Bluejays were also 11th in the NET.

It’s the 20th time in 21 polls this season that Creighton has been included in both the AP and Coaches rankings. Creighton’s NET ranking of 11 is its best at the end of the season since also being 11th in 2019-20, though that postseason was canceled due to COVID-19.

This year marks the first time that the AP has done a poll at the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament, and marks the seventh time in program history that Creighton ends the year in the Top 25. The Bluejays were No. 7 in the 2019-20 poll (when COVID-19 canceled the NCAA Tournament), as well as No. 15 (2002-03), No. 16 (2013-14), No. 19 (2011-12 and 2020-21) and No. 22 (2012-13).

It’s also the 10th time that Creighton has been in the end-of-season USA Today Coaches poll Top 25, also being recognized in 1973-74 (17th), 1974-75 (16th), 2002-03 (23rd), 2011-12 (21st), 2012-13 (21st), 2013-14 (20th), 2019-20 (9th), 2020-21 (14th) and 2022-23 (12th).

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 was eighth, done four times.

Including today’s ranking, Creighton has now been ranked by the AP 141 times in program history, with 114 of those under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 175-73 all-time as a ranked team, including a 141-61 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 was one of three BIG EAST Conference schools in the top 25, joining No. 1 Connecticut and No. 12 Marquette. The top five teams in the AP poll are Connecticut, Purdue, Alabama, Houston and Tennessee.

Creighton is also one of eight schools in the country with both its men’s and women’s teams ranked in the year-end AP Top 25, joining Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, NC State and South Carolina.

Creighton joined Baylor as the only schools with a top-25 team in the year-end poll in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball in 2023-24.

Creighton finished the 2023-24 season with a 25-10 record, matching its most wins in a season since 2016-17. The Bluejays made their third trip to the Sweet 16 in the past four seasons and were one of three teams to defeat eventual national champion Connecticut.

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