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Men's Basketball

Originally published March 8, 2010 at 01:19p.m., updated March 8, 2010 at 01:32p.m.

KU back to No. 1 in both polls

By J-W Staff Reports

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After posting victories over Kansas State and Missouri last week, the Kansas men's basketball team moved back into the top spot in both national rankings.

The previous No. 1-ranked team, Syracuse, fell to Louisville on Saturday.

KU picked up 63 of the 65 first-place votes in the Associated Press poll and nabbed 30 of the 31 first-place votes in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.

Other Big 12 teams in the polls included Kansas State (ninth AP, ninth coaches), Baylor (21st, 20th) and Texas A&M (23rd, 24th).

See how Journal-World sports editor Tom Keegan voted.

The full rankings are below.

AP Top 25

  1. Kansas (63)
  2. Kentucky (2)
  3. Syracuse
  4. Duke
  5. Ohio St.
  6. Purdue
  7. West Virginia
  8. New Mexico
  9. Kansas St.
  10. Villanova
  11. Michigan St.
  12. Butler
  13. Wisconsin
  14. BYU
  15. Tennessee
  16. Pittsburgh
  17. Temple
  18. Gonzaga
  19. Maryland
  20. Vanderbilt
  21. Baylor
  22. Georgetown
  23. Texas A&M
  24. Xavier
  25. UTEP

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Iowa 48, Richmond 41, Virginia Tech 12, Utah St. 12, Texas 10, Marquette 6, Notre Dame 6, Louisville 3, Cornell 3, California 2, Siena 1, Oklahoma St. 1.

USA Today/ESPN coaches poll

  1. Kansas (30)
  2. Kentucky
  3. Syracuse (1)
  4. Duke
  5. Purdue
  6. West Virginia
  7. Ohio St.
  8. New Mexico
  9. Kansas St.
  10. Villanova
  11. Michigan St.
  12. Butler
  13. Tennessee
  14. Gonzaga
  15. BYU
  16. Pittsburgh
  17. Temple
  18. Wisconsin
  19. Maryland
  20. Baylor
  21. UTEP
  22. Georgetown
  23. Vanderbilt
  24. Texas A&M
  25. Northern Iowa

Others Receiving Votes: Xavier 24, Utah St. 24, Cornell 10, Texas 7, St. Mary's 6, Richmond 5, California 4, Virginia Tech 2, Oklahoma St. 2, UNLV 2, Old Dominion 1, Memphis 1.

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Comments

  1. slatkins (anonymous) says…

    Texas #1 to not ranked. Wow.

  2. Brak (anonymous) says…

    I'm just curious who voted Syracuse #1 in the coaches poll and what it is they are smoking because it must be some good stuff. Also if anybody knows who it was be sure to post it here so we can all send nasty e-mails about how stupid they are.

  3. murph (anonymous) says…

    And don't forget the Defending National Champions - who not only are not ranked - they didn't get a single vote! Gotta love it...

  4. diehardjhawk (anonymous) says…

    Brak- Im pretty sure its Coach Self. If I remember right, he never votes for his own team.

  5. BCRavenJHawkfan (anonymous) says…

    slatkins:
    I was thinking the same thing. They went down like a rock. I mentioned this quite sometime back, that team looked like they checked out on Barnes, basically saying screw you and your coaching. Can we even assume they will be in the tournament? Obviously a Big XII tournament championship locks them in, but without that where do they land. If they are in, and assuming they are seeded around an 8 to 10 spot, they will be trouble in the second round for the 1 or 2 seeded team that would have to play them.

  6. KUFan90 (anonymous) says…

    No doubt Brak. We beat the current #9 team, they lose to unranked and have one more loss than we do, yet they still voted Syracuse #1. Maybe they accidentally submitted last week's again...

  7. jnewell (Jesse Newell) says…

    This is from the NABC Web site. Self does not vote in this poll:

    The usa today/espn Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2009-10 season: Mike Adras, Northern Arizona; Dana Altman, Creighton; Tommy Amaker, Harvard; Tevester Anderson, Jackson State; Ronnie Arrow, South Alabama; Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's; Eddie Biedenbach, North Carolina-Asheville; Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; Rick Byrd, Belmont; Charlie Coles, Miami (Ohio); Steve Fisher, San Diego State; Greg Graham, Boise State; Rob Jeter, Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Billy Kennedy, Murray State; Billy Lange, Navy; Dan Leibovitz, Hartford; Fran McCaffery, Siena; Mike McConathy, Northwestern State; Bob McKillop, Davidson; Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's; Ron "Fang" Mitchell, Coppin State; Matt Painter, Purdue; Tom Pecora, Hofstra; John Pelphrey, Arkansas; Mike Rice, Robert Morris; Doc Sadler, Nebraska; Herb Sendek, Arizona State; Scott Sutton, Oral Roberts; Bob Williams, UC-Santa Barbara; Gary Williams, Maryland; Doug Wojcik, Tulsa.

  8. BCRavenJHawkfan (anonymous) says…

    diehardjhawk & Brak:

    Correct. Coach Self does not self promote (no pun intended) on the coaches poll.

    Also, still waiting for DC_Cuse to show.
    Notice when the blog trollers team's don't fare so well they lose the testicular tissue to come on board and face the music.

  9. KULA (anonymous) says…

    Texas--from #1 in the country to #4 in Texas.

  10. slowplay (anonymous) says…

    Are coaches allowed to vote for their team? If so, it could have been Boehiem. If not, your probably right. Or it could have been Calipari. I doubt he would vote for KU even if they were undefeated.

  11. BCRavenJHawkfan (anonymous) says…

    Jesse:
    So out of that list, who would you guess was the Syrucuse vote?
    I don't think it would be Boeheim himself (could have been an assistant I guess).
    My guess would be Matt Painter.

  12. tdomine (anonymous) says…

    KULA---that's awesome. I live in Dallas, and the burnt orange can get a little thick at times, but I'm fully supporting any Baylor, A&M, Tech, utep, tcu, smu, Stephen F. Austin, North Texas folks who want to crow now that the mighty UT has fallen. Good for them. They're still not Kansas, but they're better than UT. Keep Austin weird (and bad at basketball).

    Rock Chalk

  13. leikness (anonymous) says…

    KULA - who are your 4?

  14. STLJHawk86 (anonymous) says…

    Interesting article about college basketball coaches pay in Forbes:
    http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/05/cali...

    I like the slideshow where HCBS is the only coach not screeming - in fact he is smiling!
    http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/05/cali...

  15. BCRavenJHawkfan (anonymous) says…

    Also, got to wonder how that list of coaches came to be. Not exactly the cream of the crop................Doc Sadler from the Big XII??????????????

  16. leikness (anonymous) says…

    If UT loses to ISU on Wednesday, could they play themselves out? If they lose to Baylor Thursday? I can't think that the NCAA, assuming those folks have been watching them play can be very happy with the attitude they've seen from Texas. They don't even seem to be playing hard. UT might get lucky with the fact that they took that last 10 and last 12 games rule out this year.

  17. DCCuse (anonymous) says…

    Hey BC_Raven,

    First of all, relax....Some of us actually WORK for a living and can't get on here the second the polls come out....

    Second, I think most of your fellow Jayhawks fans will tell you I am far from a troll. I have not said one disrespectful thing about your beloved Kansas team and have done nothing but wish your team luck throughout all of my posts. Sheesh...

    And you'll also notice that I was very scared of the Louisville game for my Orangemen if you had read my posts. That was a trap game if ever there was one. Pitino has won 9 out of 10 from Jimmy B, last game at Freedom Hall, the Cards needed a win to get off the bubble, Cuse doesn't need anything else to secure a #1 for the Dance, had the BE title and #1 seed in the BE tourney locked, etc. etc. etc. You can read these as an excuse, whatever, I really don't care at this point.

    I do agree that you guys should be disappointed in Cuse getting one of the #1 votes - that really is silly. And as I said last week, polls are "what have you done for me lately" (i.e. this week) and Cuse lost to an unranked team, therefore should not be #1. In the interest of consistency, I say the same this week as I did last. Kansas lost last week and did not deserve to be #1; Cuse lost this week and did not deserve to be #1.

    That said, I still say that the Orangemen will be a very tough out in the Big Dance, as will Kansas. I still feel that they are #1 and #2 in the country and hope they're on opposite sides of the brackets so we can settle this once and for all.

    Good luck in the B12 tourney and I'll check back in after Selection Sunday....

    DC

  18. killabees (anonymous) says…

    Self doesn't have a vote in this year's poll. Boeheim does. Here's the full list:

    The usa today/espn Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2009-10 season: Mike Adras, Northern Arizona; Dana Altman, Creighton; Tommy Amaker, Harvard; Tevester Anderson, Jackson State; Ronnie Arrow, South Alabama; Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's; Eddie Biedenbach, North Carolina-Asheville; Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; Rick Byrd, Belmont; Charlie Coles, Miami (Ohio); Steve Fisher, San Diego State; Greg Graham, Boise State; Rob Jeter, Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Billy Kennedy, Murray State; Billy Lange, Navy; Dan Leibovitz, Hartford; Fran McCaffery, Siena; Mike McConathy, Northwestern State; Bob McKillop, Davidson; Phil Martelli, Saint Joseph's; Ron "Fang" Mitchell, Coppin State; Matt Painter, Purdue; Tom Pecora, Hofstra; John Pelphrey, Arkansas; Mike Rice, Robert Morris; Doc Sadler, Nebraska; Herb Sendek, Arizona State; Scott Sutton, Oral Roberts; Bob Williams, UC-Santa Barbara; Gary Williams, Maryland; Doug Wojcik, Tulsa.

  19. trueblue9 (anonymous) says…

    First, as pointed out, Self doesn't vote this year. Second, coaches can and do vote for their own teams, otherwise there wouldn't often be unanimous #1s depending of course on who votes (this year there have been 3: UK week 11, KU weeks 6 and 4). In any case, if you look, there's been a consistent outlier in the voting each week, I would like to know if its the same person and hope someone can out him.

  20. trueblue9 (anonymous) says…

    First, as pointed out, Self doesn't vote this year. Second, coaches can and do vote for their own teams, otherwise there wouldn't often be unanimous #1s depending of course on who votes (this year there have been 3: UK week 11, KU weeks 6 and 4). In any case, if you look, there's been a consistent outlier in the voting each week, I would like to know if its the same person and hope someone can out him.

  21. BCRavenJHawkfan (anonymous) says…

    DC:

    I work for a living as well, just more efficiently than others.
    Sorry about the implication to the trolling group. I agree you have been one of few (if not the only) civil outsiders. And by showing up you have earned a level of respect normally due one of our own.

    I would also suggest that you not be to down on your Orangemen. While they did lose, I think you will see that just like that other # 1 that lost to an unranked team, Louisville had a wildcard (off the bench) that played a career game. Just my opinion.

    In terms of luck, it never hurts to have as much as you can get. And let's be realistic, both clubs will need every bit of it for both to be in the title tilt on that Monday in April. You can bet there will be sleepers in every bracket putting big bullseyes on the backs of both teams.

  22. mvjayhawk (anonymous) says…

    Coach Self has always said (and a lot of coaches say it too but not as specific as HCBS), that "being ranked doesn't mean anything....but we should always play to as high a ranking as we can play."

    and he's right on. are we the best team in the country? Next four weekends will truly tell...but we're pretty doggone good. and we can continue to improve, so we can play as good as we're ranked.

  23. jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says…

    Oh, where, oh, where are ALL the 'cuse posters this week?!?! Schmucks!!!!

  24. DCCuse (anonymous) says…

    Thanks BC...Here's to having a memorable postseason for both of our teams....Talk to you all soon....

  25. DCCuse (anonymous) says…

    atl-

    Like I've said on other posts, the reasons Cuse posters were on your board was mainly due to Keegan's voting us 3rd, behind UK after both a KU and UK loss last week....

    Let's pretend for a moment that after Cuse lost this week and UK and KU won that a Syracuse sportswriter had voted Kansas 3rd. Most, if not all, of you (and unlike you I won't use an eloquent word like "Schmucks") would be up in arms screaming that he was a complete tool and biased beyond belief. Especially when the local Cuse website posted a link to this very page just inviting us to scream "foul" in unison.....It is the same exact thing, so please understand that us Schmucks had a right to be a little peeved at this Keegan character....

    But again, at this point in the season, whether any of us are 1, 2 or 3 it seems that KU/UK/SU are all going to be #1's in the Big Dance....

    Good luck in the postseason, we hope to see you in Indy....

    Cheers,

    DC

  26. shawk13 (anonymous) says…

    I personally like DCCuse better than some of the KU fans that post on here... to each their own.

  27. jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says…

    DCCuse...my post was not directed at you specifically...your posts have been classy AND you're the only one with the guts to come back and stand your ground...props for that. There were some other 'cuse fans on here last week with no other intention but to lob some hand grenades. I agree that SU will garner one of the no. 1 seeds. Wouldn't mind seeing you guys in the final...because that would also mean that UK didn't make it.

  28. OakvilleJHawk (anonymous) says…

    DCCuse..you post here anytime you want, my friend. You show great passion for your school, yet you project class, consideration and true basketball knowledge.

    Don't get me wrong..if I ever run into that little McNamara kid from 2003, I'd find some way to spill my coffee on him. LOL.

    DC...maybe you should start posting for UK and show those goofballs that it is actually possible to put together a coherent statement on a rival's website........NAHHH, never mind!!

  29. Tuskin (anonymous) says…

    If Syracuse ends up playing Kentucky, I'll be rooting for Syracuse. Their fans that have come here have struck me as so much more reasonable, informed, and pleasant. Good team, good fans. Best of luck to you, until our teams meet!

  30. fan408785 (anonymous) says…

    In the spirit of sportsmanship or rather fansmanship, I gave my congrats to KSU fans for there athletic dept's completion of Frank Martin's extention.

    Weird...

    I don't know what's wrong with me...

  31. jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says…

    No, doubt, Tuskin. Honestly, I'll be cheering for ANY team playing against UK in the final.

  32. shawk13 (anonymous) says…

    After reading some comments on ESPN my curiosity was aroused as to why the Jayhawk Nation garners so much disrespect for UK? I suppose there is some classic rivalry stemming from being two top-tier programs, but that hardly seems like enough of a reason. If I had to pinpoint a reason right now for my personal dislike of them, I would say its more because I have a distaste for the way Calipari runs his programs (the one-and-done attractive, the shadiness, Calipari's general appearance, etc) than anything about the UK program, and I am wondering if that is the general consensus or if I am living under a rock. In the past few years I haven't had much of a concern for UK, but perhaps my age just conveniently dropped me in at a time when they weren't anyone to care about because of their slumping program.

  33. jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says…

    shawk13...I think the fact that Calipari is there has a lot to do with it, especially from my viewpoint. Also, living in SEC country, UK fans during b-ball season are unbearable. I work with a couple and they still talk trash even after they lose. To me, they are much like UGA football fans...they act like they haven't skipped a beat since 1980 (the year UGA won the national title). And we all know they haven't really done anything since then...just been over-hyped really on a regular basis. To me, UK fans act like it was just yesterday that they won their 7th title.

  34. jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says…

    shawk13...I think the fact that Calipari is there has a lot to do with it, especially from my viewpoint. Also, living in SEC country, UK fans during b-ball season are unbearable. I work with a couple and they still talk trash even after they lose. To me, they are much like UGA football fans...they act like they haven't skipped a beat since 1980 (the year UGA won the national title). And we all know they haven't really done anything since then...just been over-hyped really on a regular basis. To me, UK fans act like it was just yesterday that they won their 7th title.

  35. jayhawkinatl (anonymous) says…

    KY_Cats...a regular "visitor" to our site doesn't do much to help relations either. LMAO.

  36. njjayhawk (anonymous) says…

    The clowns who bestowed 'Cuse and UK with No. 1 votes this week are clearly over qualified to work the center ring for Barnum and Bailey under the big top. I kinda understand the 2 votes for UK, as those votes surely came from two hillbilly brothers who got stone cold drunk on moonshine after witnessing the hillbilly marriage of their cousins. And the 'Cuse single vote? Hard to figure. Al Gore, maybe?

  37. globaljaybird (anonymous) says…

    shawk13...In case you haven't noticed, not alot of people period are too hip on Calimari, or as one of our posters refers to him "Johnny the Squid." His methods are suspect unethical, and his finality is generally vacated wins, then he skates. And he never knows a thing. Goo, goo. A 5 star recruit can"t bag an ACT or SAT and the HC is unaware, and STAYS unaware when the guy has a 400 point increase 2 months later on a retest. Pardner, that just don't happen on a retest. It ain't the program with most of us, it's the slime ball at the throttle. Coach Knight called the NCAA out on this in public at a fundraiser for the IBBHOF a couple of months back. Personally some of my disdain is with them as well. They're a cloak & dagger money maker too. But "slick the car salesman" at the top will bring down UK also. They should know better. Shame shame. He may be one & done himself. I won't be surprised.

  38. globaljaybird (anonymous) says…

    I like to tell KY Cats (jelly) act like you've been there, even if you haven't. Poise my lad, poise.

  39. globaljaybird (anonymous) says…

    After all, it's just a form of entertainment, it's called a game. RCJH!!!

  40. gardenjay (anonymous) says…

    mvjayhawk highlights an interesting idea: that the 'big dance' shows which team is the best in the land. That is a prevalent idea, and I am not criticizing that idea in this sentence.

    But, in a good attempt to become ostracized, I will criticize that idea in THESE sentences!!! What the hay!!! You can't take a flukey game like B-ball and assume that a string of six games against varied opponents determines a winner. Maybe a string of six games against the same opponent to some degree of probability, barring changes to conditions such as injury and partying. What I like is that luck is endemic to the tournament process, which I think lends excitement, speculation and joie la vie. Remember Bucknell and Bradley ..... on second thought, forget Bucknell and Bradley. Anyway, the NCAA tournament is one of my favorite sporting events of the year, far better than the regular season. Beak 'em!!

  41. NavyHawk (anonymous) says…

    shawk13,

    The KU-UK rivalry predates the BigXII and for some of us was more heated than KU-MU. For quite a few years the two teams played every year in December. Unfortunately for our beloved 'Hawks, the record is lopsidedly in favor of Kentucky 6-16. (Although KU owns the most lopsided score in a victory over UK... 150-95 in the Roy Williams-Rick Pitino era).

    http://bigbluehistory.net/bb/statisti...

  42. tstanlick1909 (anonymous) says…

    If Cuse and UK play each other in the tourney it will likely be as the semifinal game, because the two teams will likely be he overall #2 and #3 one seeds. That being the case, I would rather play UK in the final for many reasons, the most important being that they are a weaker team than Cuse and I do not want to face that zone in the final four

  43. shawk13 (anonymous) says…

    NavyHawk and globaljaybird: thanks for explaining, I am glad to know that I wasn't far off-base.
    As far as their fans go, most schools have at least a few annoying/rude/immoral fans but when I think about it, the percentage is pretty high with the UK fans I have come across. But for me it still comes down to who is running the show in Lexington. There is just something to be said for a classic elite program that is slumping to "sell their soul" to the tune of 4mil a year to get a coach who runs a team that focuses on getting the most athletic individual players, regardless of attitude and respect for the school. I know that the times change but a little integrity goes a long way, and integrity isn't very synonymous with forfeited seasons. If you take all of my preceding description and reverse it, you get a pretty accurate description of Kansas, not to say there aren't any underhanded workings (I'm not that naive, but at least if they exist they don't make a splash). I generally have a hard time understanding why fans of schools that don't have some predefined grudge with us sometimes don't have any respect. I guess that is just people for you.

  44. SaltyJayhawk (anonymous) says…

    I agree with shaw,
    the whole reason I dislike Kentucky ( and I very very very strongly dislike Kentucky) is almost one hundred percent because of that filthy crook they hired as head coach. before calipari left memphis I didn't mind Kentucky that much and I hated Memphis. Now those roles have been switched. Everbody knows calisleezy broke the rules at umass and Memphis but he got away both times, while leaving the university out to dry. He is the opposite of HCBS in the way that bill recruits kids that fit into his system and he makes them better players and better people. John calipari on the other hand just recruits the most talented individuals regardless of personality and puts them on the court and tells them to go play ball. I can't wait until he finally has to pay for his cheating and lying, it's a disgrace to college basketball.
    P.S. DCCuse, you are a very classy individual and you are welcome to post your opinion on any article you want. RCJHKU

  45. ralster (anonymous) says…

    Agree with above: Was pretty ambivalent about KY before...actually rooting for Gillispie when he went there, as he was Bill Self's friend and had success at aTm. Then I feel KY railroaded him by only giving him 2yrs--and KY then looks like such a desperate step-sister by going after CalipariSlick...unbelievable! He is only a pseudo-coach...He only excells in 'fronting' the player's skills to the media, crafty enough to run a style of play that relies on pure athleticism, and coaching input from him is minimal, as he himself admits he "doesnt know anything". What may sound to some as good-natured, humble self-deprecation, is actually just for public consumption (always, always working the future recruits even in a 20sec sideline interview!)...God help KY whenever they face some experienced, balanced "team"...Frankly, going past the Sweet16, things get way tougher than the SEC game after game after relentless game... I am betting those kids will crack under the pressure. We have already witnessed infamous signs of immature egos from Bledsoe, Cousins, and to a lesser degree, Wall...
    ---------------------------
    DC Cuse,
    I appreciate your comments. All competetive 'ribbing' aside, I hope you know most knowledgeable Hawk fans give credit to Orange as being a legit #1 pretty much all season...Good luck to KU and Syracuse in the Dance.