Seton Hall achieves season high in latest AP rankings
Seton Hall Pirates guard Myles Powell. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire)
March 4th, 2020
The Kansas Jayhawks held steady at No. 1, while the Baylor Bears dropped the ball and fell to fourth, in the latest AP Top 25 poll.
Let’s break down the biggest risers and fallers in the college basketball rankings, with less than a week remaining in the regular season.
Risers
Seton Hall Pirates: up five spots to #8
Seton Hall is fast on the rise, with a No. 8 ranking in the AP poll, the school’s highest of the season.
The No. 1 team in the Big East rebounded from back-to-back losses to then-No. 23 Creighton and Providence to win three straight in late February. The Pirates narrowly defeated then-No. 21 Butler on Feb. 19, then pummeled St. John’s, 81-65, and handed Marquette an 88-79 home loss.
The Pirates own +2000 odds to win the school’s first NCAA title and are on the way to a regular-season conference title, if the team can beat either Villanova or Creighton this week.
Myles Powell has 15 games this season with 20+ points! @Myles_MBP_23 pic.twitter.com/gDsZILCj7F
— Courtside Films (@CourtsideFilms) March 4, 2020
Michigan State Spartans: up eight spots to #16
Since they fell out of the Top 25 in early February, the Spartans have rolled through five ranked teams and lost just once, at home to then-No. 9 Maryland.
In the past six games, Sparty ousted then-No. 22 Illinois, Nebraska, No. 18 Iowa, Maryland on the road, and No. 20 Penn State. The team is a +1500 choice to win the NCAA tournament and is peaking in the month most associated with coach Tom Izzo (aka “Mr. March").
No. 19 Ohio State is the only challenge remaining on the regular-season schedule, before the Big Ten Tournament commences next Wednesday.
Fallers
Duke Blue Devils: down five spots to #12
Duke can’t seem to compose itself on the road. After they escaped Chapel Hill in overtime, the Blue Devils suffered three straight losses away from home, with the latest setback at Virginia on Saturday.
.@DukeMBB has not led after the first five minutes in any of its ACC road games thus far. Our @mhlmdl says something's got to change if the Blue Devils hope to be a contender in March:https://t.co/28GUWOLji9 pic.twitter.com/QWWOckt31x
— Duke Basketball (@dukebasketball) February 27, 2020
The Blue Devils are 2-3 in their last five games and rank third in the ACC standings. Despite a recent slump, the team still boasts +900 odds to hang a national championship banner in 2020.
Mike Krzyzewski and company will host rival North Carolina for the regular-season finale Saturday and need to build a ton of momentum and confidence for the conference tournament and beyond.
Michigan Wolverines: down six spots to #25
The Wolverines are back on a losing streak, after they collected five consecutive victories. Both Wisconsin and Ohio State got the best of Michigan last week, which led to the Wolverines' fall to 25th.
The Maize and Blue has struggled some with free-throw shooting and rebounding and ranks in the bottom half of the conference in both categories.
A home game against 7-22 Nebraska and road trip to Maryland is all that’s left on the regular-season slate to help improve Michigan’s NCAA Tournament seeding. The Wolverines hold +3500 odds to claim the program’s second national title.
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