Monday, February 2, 2009

Connecticut = No. 1 (Feb. 2)

Connecticut is the new No. 1 team in America. The Huskies replace Duke as the highest ranked team in the AP Top 25.

Last week, Duke replaced Wake Forest as the No. 1 ranked team in the AP poll. But Wake Forest beat Duke 70-68 on Wednesday, before falling to Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Oklahoma takes over the No. 2 position in this week's poll, and North Carolina moves up to No. 3. Duke and Louisville round out the top 5.

Drive and Dish has been skeptical of the claim that Wake Forest is a legitimate Final Four contender. After the Demon Deacons beat Duke, we adopted the position that Wake Forest has the requisite talent and the size needed to contend for a Final Four, but that they may not have enough maturity/experience to get them there this year. And we've also stated that North Carolina is likely to make a return trip to the Final Four, but that they're unlikely to win the National Championship. But make no mistake, the UConn Huskies are a legitimate Final Four and National Championship contender.



AP Top 25
1. Connecticut (64) 20-1 1,792
2. Oklahoma (5) 21-1 1,691
3. North Carolina (3) 19-2 1,639
4. Duke 19-2 1,563
5. Louisville 17-3 1,464
6. Pittsburgh 19-2 1,427
7. Wake Forest 17-2 1,409
8. Marquette 19-2 1,358
9. Xavier 19-2 1,176
10. Clemson 18-2 1,077
11. Butler 19-1 1,051
12. Purdue 17-4 961
13. Michigan State 17-4 876
14. Memphis 18-3 798
15. UCLA 17-4 787
16. Texas 15-5 724
17. Villanova 17-4 698
18. Gonzaga 16-4 632
19. Minnesota 18-3 426
20. Syracuse 17-5 415
21. Kansas 17-4 316
22. Washington 16-5 216
23. Illinois 18-4 198
24. Arizona State 16-5 146
25. Utah State 21-1 99

Others Receiving Votes
Dayton 95, Davidson 85, Missouri 39, Penn State 37, LSU 36, West Virginia 33, South Carolina 33, UNLV 29, Florida 24, Providence 14, USC 8, Notre Dame 7, Siena 4, Kansas State 4, Northeastern 3, Ohio State 3, Kentucky 2, Arizona 2, Florida State 1, Northern Iowa 1, Virginia Military 1.

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