Current:Home > FinanceConnecticut finishes No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll followed by Purdue-LoTradeCoin
Connecticut finishes No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll followed by Purdue
lotradecoin affiliate View Date:2024-12-25 12:36:48
The results of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament left no doubt which team will conclude the season at No. 1. The second choice, unsurprisingly, was also unanimous. The biggest question was how the voters in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll would rank the rest of the field after the Big Dance. We now have our answer.
Connecticut, of course, will finish the year where it ended last season at the top. Runner-up Purdue lands at No. 2, its highest finish since USA TODAY began administering the poll in 1991.
The No. 3 ranking goes to Houston, the team that held the top spot for much of the campaign but met with bad injury luck during the tournament. Alabama vaults all the way to No. 4 after its run to the national semifinals. Tennessee, which came up a win short of the Final Four, rounds out the top five.
TOP 25:Complete USA TODAY Sports men's basketball poll
CRYSTAL BALL: Way-too-early men's basketball Top 25 for next season
FOLLOW THE MADNESS: NCAA basketball bracket, scores, schedules, teams and more.
North Carolina lands at No. 6, with Elite Eight finisher Illinois improving three spots to No. 7. Iowa State, Duke and Creighton round out the top 10, giving five conferences two top-10 squads apiece.
So what of North Carolina State? The Wolfpack’s unspectacular regular season but incredible Final Four journey left voters divided on where to place them. In the end, they land smack in the middle of the top 25 at No. 13, behind No. 11 Marquette and No. 12 Arizona. Clemson, the ACC’s third Elite Eight representative, lands at No. 15 in the final totals. Auburn and Kentucky tumble to No. 17 and 19, respectively, after first-round exits. Washington State joins the last poll at No. 24.
Brigham Young falls out of the rankings, finishing just a single poll point behind No. 25 Texas Tech. Florida and Wisconsin are the other dropouts from the pre-tournament rankings.
veryGood! (91)
Related
- Mystery drones are swarming New Jersey skies, but can you shoot them down?
- Justice Department reverses position, won't support shielding Trump in original E. Jean Carroll lawsuit
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Miss King Charles III's Trooping the Colour Celebration
- The South’s Communication Infrastructure Can’t Withstand Climate Change
- Taylor Swift makes history as most decorated artist at Billboard Music Awards
- On California’s Coast, Black Abalone, Already Vulnerable to Climate Change, are Increasingly Threatened by Wildfire
- Eminent Domain Lets Pipeline Developers Take Land, Pay Little, Say Black Property Owners
- Did AI write this headline?
- Travis Kelce Praises Taylor Swift For Making Eras Tour "Best In The World"
- Inside Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor's Private Family Life With Their Kids
Ranking
- 'The Voice' Season 26 finale: Coach Michael Bublé scores victory with Sofronio Vasquez
- Maui Has Begun the Process of Managed Retreat. It Wants Big Oil to Pay the Cost of Sea Level Rise.
- Unsolved Mysteries: How Kayla Unbehaun's Abduction Case Ended With Her Mother's Arrest
- Bridgerton Unveils First Look at Penelope and Colin’s Glow Up in “Scandalous” Season 3
- Wisconsin kayaker who faked his death and fled to Eastern Europe is in custody, online records show
- World Talks on a Treaty to Control Plastic Pollution Are Set for Nairobi in February. How To Do So Is Still Up in the Air
- How Beyoncé and More Stars Are Honoring Juneteenth 2023
- Microsoft slashes 10,000 jobs, the latest in a wave of layoffs
Recommendation
-
The burial site of the people Andrew Jackson enslaved was lost. The Hermitage says it is found
-
J.Crew’s 50% Off Sale Is Your Chance To Stock Up Your Summer Wardrobe With $10 Tops, $20 Shorts, And More
-
Former Top Chef winner Kristen Kish to replace Padma Lakshmi as host
-
Torrential rain destroyed a cliffside road in New York. Can U.S. roads handle increasingly extreme weather?
-
Drew Barrymore Addresses Criticism Over Her Touchiness With Talk Show Guests
-
When Will Renewables Pass Coal? Sooner Than Anyone Thought
-
Here's what's at stake in Elon Musk's Tesla tweet trial
-
Ditch Drying Matte Formulas and Get $108 Worth of Estée Lauder 12-Hour Lipsticks for $46