After collecting victories over the Connecticut Huskies and South Florida Bulls last week, the Syracuse Orange gained a few spots in the latest college basketball polls, released Monday. The Orange (20-4, 7-4 Big East Conference), who were ranked No. 17 in both polls last week, jumped to No. 12 in the AP poll and to No. 13 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Big East had four teams earn Top-10 honors in both polls while eight teams made the Top 25 in the AP poll but only seven were slotted in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll.
No. 4 Pittsburgh Panthers (21-2, 9-1) remain atop of the league standings and in the Top 5 in both polls. The Notre Dame Fighting Irish (19-4, 8-3) moved up a few spots to No. 8 in the AP poll and No. 7 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. The Villanova Wildcats (19-4, 7-3) jumped from No. 12 to No. 9 in both polls. Also in both polls, the Huskies (18-4, 6-4) are No. 10 and the Georgetown Hoyas (18-5, 7-4) are No. 11.
Rounding out the Top 25, the Louisville Cardinals are No. 16 in the AP poll and No. 15 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll. West Virginia was ranked No. 25 in the AP poll but left out of the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll.
The top-six spots were the same in both polls: No. 1 Ohio State (24-0), No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks (22-1), No. 3 Texas Longhorns (20-3), No. 4 Pitt, No. 5 Duke Blue Devils (21-2) and No. 6 San Diego St. Aztecs (23-1).