I apologize for missing last week’s rankings post, but in case you missed it Marquette jumped to #15 in both polls after defeating South Florida and Villanova to extend their winning streak to 6. This week, the winning streak would reach 7 after defeating Seton Hall at the Bradley Center. However, all good things must come to an end and the Marquette winning streak was no exception. The loss to Notre Dame on Saturday was the Golden Eagles' first loss since January 7, 2012. Marquette remains tied for second at 8-3 in conference play and has lost its 3 games to the first place team, the other second place team, and the fourth place team in the standings.
The loss dropped Marquette to #18 and #19 in the new AP and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Polls. Kentucky remained #1 for the 3rd consecutive week followed by Big East conference leader Syracuse Orange. Georgetown and Louisville join Marquette as the only other ranked teams from the Big East.
Full rankings and analysis after the jump!
Syracuse: The Orange rebounded from their first loss of the season to win at Cincinnati, home vs. West Virginia, and at St. John’s over the past 2 weeks to climb back to #2 in both polls. Perhaps more importantly, Syracuse big man Fab Melo was cleared to return to the team.
Georgetown: The Hoyas are now ranked #12 and #11 after losing at Pitt and home victories over UConn and South Florida.
Louisville: The Cardinals cling to a spot in the top 25 rankings after defeating Villanova, Seton Hall, and Rutgers over the last 2 weeks and are currently ranked #24 and tied for #23.
Big East "Others Receiving Votes": Notre Dame, Connecticut
Other Notables:
Wisconsin: Wisconsin is now ranked #21 and #22 after losing to Ohio State at home this past Saturday. Prior to that Wisconsin had defeated Indiana and Penn State. Connecticut: In addition to losing head coach Jim Calhoun, the Huskies have also lost their spot in the top 25 rankings after losing to Notre Dame and Georgetown before defeating Seton Hall.
Indiana: Victories over Penn State and Iowa at home were sandwiched around losses to Wisconsin and Michigan on the road before the Hoosiers were able to claim only their second Big Ten road victory in Coach Smarmy Crean’s tenure by defeating Purdue on Saturday. The Hoosiers are now ranked #23 in both polls.
Vanderbilt: Vanderbilt was briefly ranked #25 in last week’s polls before falling back into the "Others Receiving Votes" category.