Undefeated Gamecocks climb into AP men’s basketball Top 25
Christmas came four days early.
South Carolina was in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since April 2004 on Monday, checking in at No. 25 after winning two games last week. The Gamecocks (10-0) are one of six undefeated teams in the country and off to their best start since they won 17 straight games to start the 1933-34 season.
USC was No. 23 in the final poll of the 2003-04 season. That was the last year the Gamecocks reached the NCAA tournament.
USC was No. 25 in the USA Today/coaches’ Top 25 last week and moved to No. 23 in that poll on Monday. The AP poll jumped USC two spots after being 27th last week.
USC will play St. John’s in Uncasville, Conn., on Tuesday and then take an eight-day break for the holidays. The Red Storm (7-5) have lost two straight home games to Incarnate Word and New Jersey Institute of Technology.
The Gamecocks have two remaining non-conference games, each at home – Francis Marion (Dec. 30) and Memphis (Jan. 2).
AP TOP 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 20, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
Record | Prv | |
1. Mich. State (64) | 12-0 | 1 |
2. Kansas (1) | 9-1 | 2 |
3. Oklahoma | 8-0 | 3 |
4. Maryland | 10-1 | 6 |
5. Virginia | 9-1 | 8 |
6. Xavier | 11-0 | 10 |
7. North Carolina | 9-2 | 11 |
8. Arizona | 11-1 | 13 |
9. Butler | 9-1 | 17 |
10. Providence | 11-1 | 14 |
11. Iowa State | 9-1 | 5 |
12. Kentucky | 9-2 | 4 |
13. Miami | 9-1 | 15 |
14. Purdue | 11-1 | 9 |
15. Duke | 9-2 | 7 |
16. Louisville | 9-1 | 19 |
17. Villanova | 8-2 | 12 |
18. SMU | 9-0 | 18 |
19. West Virginia | 9-1 | 20 |
20. George Wash. | 10-1 | 21 |
21. Texas A&M | 9-2 | 24 |
22. Cincinnati | 10-2 | 23 |
23. Baylor | 8-2 | 16 |
24. Utah | 9-2 | — |
25. South Carolina | 10-0 | — |
Others receiving votes: UCLA 49, Connecticut 46, Oregon 34, Gonzaga 33, Colorado 27, Dayton 17, Pittsburgh 16, Northern Iowa 15, UALR 14, Vanderbilt 8, Monmouth 6, Iowa 5, Florida 3, Texas 3, Northwestern 2
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 1:39 PM with the headline "Undefeated Gamecocks climb into AP men’s basketball Top 25."