BYU Men's Basketball Enters AP Top 25

PROVO -- The BYU men’s basketball team entered the national rankings Monday for the first time this season at 25th in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll. The Cougars also received votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll and are two spots out of the top-25.

The Cougars are coming off a 54-49 win over Air Force, which gave them the Mountain West Conference regular-season title for the third-straight season. BYU had not posted a three-peat since 1932-34 when the team competed in the Rocky Mountain Conference. BYU has a 24-6 overall record on the 2008-09 season and a 12-4 MWC record. The MWC regular-season title is shared by BYU, Utah and New Mexico, all posting 12-4 conference records.

In his fourth year guiding the program, Rose has seen his team earn the respect of the national voters for the third-consecutive season. Last season, BYU entered the polls on Nov. 26, 2007 to receive the program’s earliest poll appearance since 1980-81. The Cougars’ last ranking came at the end of the 2007-08 season at No. 24.

BYU has now been ranked three seasons in a row, the first time since 1979-82. The Cougar basketball program has now been ranked in the AP Poll during 17 seasons since its first national ranking in 1950-51.

BYU will next play the winner of the first-round MWCC game versus Colorado State and Air Force on Thursday at 12:00 p.m. It will be broadcast via The Mtn. HD and CBS College Sports HD.

AP TOP 25 POLL

1. North Carolina (35) 27-3, 1,734

2. Pittsburgh (33) 28-3, 1,731

3. Connecticut 27-3, 1,592

4. Memphis (2) 28-3, 1,544

5. Louisville (1) 25-5, 1,513

6. Oklahoma 27-4, 1,399

7. Michigan St. 25-5, 1,349

8. Wake Forest 24-5, 1,246

9. Duke 25-6 1,237

10. Villanova 25-6, 1,108

11. Kansas 25-6, 1,038

12. Gonzaga 25-5, 978

13. Washington 24-7, 910

14. Missouri 25-6, 779

15. UCLA 24-7, 752

16. Butler 26-4, 536

17. Clemson 23-7, 528

18. Syracuse 23-8, 518

19. Xavier 24-6, 465

20. LSU 25-6, 461

21. Marquette 23-8, 453

22. Florida St. 23-8, 333

23. Arizona St. 22-8, 199

24. Purdue 22-9, 169

25. BYU 24-6, 158

Others receiving votes: Illinois 131, Texas A&M 63, Saint Mary’s, Calif. 56, Utah 21, West Virginia 17, Auburn 9, Dayton 7, Utah St. 6, Va. Commonwealth 6, Weber St. 5, Creighton 4, N. Iowa 3, Oklahoma St. 3, Siena 3, California 2, New Mexico 2, Penn St. 2, Texas 2, American U. 1, Ohio St. 1, Tennessee 1.

USA TODAY/ESPN POLL

1. North Carolina (23) 27-3, 76

2. Pittsburgh (5) 28-3, 740

3. Memphis (3) 28-3, 702

4. Connecticut 27-3, 679

5. Louisville 25-5, 659

6. Michigan State 25-5, 608

7. Oklahoma 27-4, 592

8. Duke 25-6, 545

9. Wake Forest 24-5, 532

10. Washington 24-7, 466

11. Kansas 25-6

12. Gonzaga 25-5, 426

13. Villanova 25-6, 410

14. UCLA 24-7, 369

15. Missouri 25-6, 327

16. LSU 25-6, 274

17. Butler 26-4, 251

18. Clemson 23-7, 223

19. Xavier 24-6, 196

20. Syracuse 23-8, 182

21. Marquette 23-8, 157

22. Florida State 23-8, 135

23. Arizona State 22-8, 133

24. Purdue 22-9, 68

25. Illinois 23-8, 57

Others receiving votes: Saint Mary's (25-5) 43; Brigham Young (24-6) 30; Utah State (27-4) 23; Dayton (25-6) 11; California (22-9) 9; Utah (21-9) 7; Boston College (21-10) 3; Texas (20-10) 3; Texas A&M (23-8) 2; Siena (25-7) 1; Weber State (21-8) 1.

SEASONS BYU HAS BEEN RANKED IN THE AP POLL

Season, Highest Ranking

1950-51 11

1952-53 19

1955-56 5

1964-65 9

1965-66 6

1966-67 7

1970-71 20

1971-72 20

1972-73 12

1979-80 12

1980-81 15

1981-82 15

1987-88 3

1992-93 21

2006-07 21

2007-08 20

2008-09 25