Florida Returns to No. 1 For First Time Since 2007
The Florida Gators are at the top again. The SEC powerhouse is the new No. 1 team in college basketball. This is the first time since 2007 when they won their second consecutive national title that Florida has topped the national rankings.
Florida was No. 1 in the nation that year for eight weeks during the regular season. On two occasions, they were chosen unanimously as the No 1.
Florida is 25-2 on the season and moved up one spot to No. 1 replacing the Syracuse Orange who are also 25-2 but suffered their only two losses of the season last week. The Orange dropped to No. 4.
Syracuse lost first to Boston College and then Duke to become just the first team ranked No. 1 to lose two games during the same week since 2010, when Texas suffered the same fate.
Wichita State, the nation’s only undefeated team at 29-0 moved up to No. 2, while Arizona at 25-2 moved up one spot to No. 3.
Florida is the fifth team named No. 1 this season. The Gators took 47 of the 65 first place votes from a panel of national media. Wichita State was on 14 ballots as No. 1, while Arizona appeared as No. 1 on four ballots.
Gregg Marshall the coach of Wichita State said that being the No. 2 team in the nation means his Shockers team is being recognized for its outstanding season.
Kansas moved up from No. 8 to No. 5. Rounding out the top ten were the Duke Blue Devils, Louisville Cardinals, Villanova Wildcats, Creighton Bluejays and Saint Louis Billikens.
Creighton moved from No. 11 to No. 9 making it the first time the team has been in the top ten since January of 2003 when they were No. 10.
Duke won for the 9th time against a No. 1 ranked team with its win last week over Syracuse. That puts then fourth all time behind North Carolina, Maryland and UCLA.
North Carolina is currently on a winning streak of 9 games including a win over Duke last week. The Tar Heels jumped up to No. 19 after being out of the Top 25.
North Carolina was 0-3 to start the ACC and has won 20 games this season. The Tar Heels have won 20 games in 41 of their past 44 seasons.
SMU is back in the Top 25 after falling out for a week. The Mustangs are No. 23 after defeating Connecticut. The Huskies, along with Gonzaga and UCLA fell out of the Top 25 this week.
New Mexico defeated San Diego State, which as the time was No. 6, which helped the Lobos return to the top 25.
The Aztecs are 23-3 and dropped down to No. 13 after losing to the Lobos, but the two will play again on March 8 in the final game of the regular season.
Just two games this week feature Top 25 teams. Louisville ranked No. 7 plays at Memphis ranked No. 21. Syracuse ranked No. 4 will visit No. 12 Virginia. They are the two top teams in the ACC.
