The Mountain West Conference is doing some serious climbing.
A league that has always had to fight for respect as it tries to join the ranks of the power conferences, the 11-year-old Mountain West had three teams in The Associated Press’ Top 25 on Monday, one more than the Atlantic Coast Conference and three more than the Pac-10.
New Mexico, BYU and UNLV, which are in a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West, give the league three teams in the Top 25 for the first time.
Kansas (22-1) remained the runaway No. 1, receiving 55 first-place votes from the national media panel. Syracuse (23-1), which received eight first-place votes, moved up one spot to become the fourth No. 2 in as many weeks. The ranking is the highest for the Orange since a six-week stretch at No. 1 in 1989-90.
Gonzaga rose to No. 16 after being ranked 17th the week before. The ACC has Duke and No. 20 Georgia Tech in this week’s poll, while the Pac-10 is without a team in the Top 25 for the fifth straight week since Washington dropped out.
Nebraska women rise in AP poll
Nebraska keeps winning and climbing up the Top 25.
The unbeaten Cornhuskers (21-0) moved past Notre Dame to No. 3 on Monday in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll. Nebraska trailed the Irish in the poll by 27 points last week, but were buoyed by victories over then-No. 10 Oklahoma State and 12th-ranked Texas A&M to move two points in front.
UConn remained No. 1 for a record 38th straight week. The Huskies (23-0) routed West Virginia and Louisville this week. Connecticut has won 62 straight games, all by double digits.
Stanford remained second with Notre Dame falling to fourth — despite winning twice this past week — and Tennessee fifth.
While there wasn’t much surprise at UConn’s continued success, the Cornhuskers didn’t even start the season ranked and didn’t crack the Top 25 until the fourth week of the season. Before this run, Nebraska’s highest ranking had been 12th in 1997.
Oklahoma players cited
NORMAN, Okla. — Oklahoma freshmen basketball players Andrew Fitzgerald and Steven Pledger were cited for shoplifting at a department store in Norman, just hours after the Sooners upset Texas on Saturday. Team spokesman Mike Houck says any discipline will be handled internally.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
