Another crazy week in the Big East conference, and college basketball in general, caused a lot of movement in the new AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls. Starting at the top, the previously undefeated and near unanimously ranked #1 Syracuse Orange dropped their first game of the year to Notre Dame. Another unbeaten team, the Baylor Bears, also lost their first games of the year to Kansas and Missouri in back to back games. The only remaining unbeaten team in Division 1 is the Murray State Racers who are now ranked at #11 and #9.
For YOUR Marquette Golden Eagles, victories over Louisville and Providence increased their ranking four spots in each poll to #17 and #18. Marquette has now won 4 games in a row and sits in 3rd place in the Big East conference. The Big East still has 5 teams ranked in this week’s rankings.
Full rankings and analysis after the jump!
Syracuse: A surprising loss to the Irish on the road dropped the Orange from #1 to #4 and #3. Perhaps more concerning for Syracuse is the potential loss of Fab Melo,
Georgetown: Victories over Rutgers and DePaul resulted in Georgetown’s rankings rising to #9 and #10, up from #10 and #12.
Connecticut: Having lost 4 out of the last 6 games, including a non-conference loss at Tennessee, UConn’s ranking fell to #24 and #19.
Louisville: My prophecy in last week’s rankings recap that Louisville’s days in the top 25 are limited came partially true this week as the Cardinals managed to hang on to a tie for 25th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. The Cardinals followed up their loss to Marquette with a victory over Pittsburgh as part of the primetime game on ESPN Gameday.
Other Notables:
Wisconsin: Victories over Northwestern and at Illinois saw the Badgers ranked again for the first time in three weeks, grabbing a tie for 25th with Louisville.
Big East "Others Receiving Votes": West Virginia and Cincinnati
Indiana: Another loss on the road for the Hooisers, this time to the Cornhuskers, saw their rankings slide once again to #16 and #17.
Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt’s winning streak came to an end this week, in overtime to #15 Mississippi State, and continues to find themselves on the outside looking in to this week’s top 25 rankings.