UT men's hoops hold at No. 2, women drop out of AP Top 25 rankings
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Texas Longhorns men's basketball team stayed put at No. 2 in the country while the women's team fell completely out of the latest Associated Press Top 25 rankings released Monday.
The men's team, undefeated at 6-0, puts its unblemished record on the line Tuesday as part of the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. They take on No. 17 Illinois at 6 p.m. The Fighting Illini are coming off a 71-66 loss to Maryland while the Longhorns notched another top-10 win 72-67 over No. 7 Creighton.
Texas earned 14 first-place votes and 1,473 points in the poll to hang on to the No. 2 spot. Houston is still the nation's No. 1 team, receiving 34 first-place votes and 1,502 points. Virginia stayed at No. 3, followed by Purdue and Connecticut to round out the top five.
Maryland's win over Illinois helped the Terrapins make a jump nine spots in the rankings to No. 13. Creighton, meanwhile, lost to in-state rival Nebraska after falling to the Longhorns and tumbled 14 spots to No. 21.
In the women's rankings, the Longhorns are 4-4 and fell to unranked South Florida 70-65 at the Moody Center on Dec. 2 before a big win over Southern 92-43 on Dec. 4. Texas was No. 22 before poll voters decided to drop them out altogether. They received 17 points to put them in the others receiving votes category.
The Longhorn women's team is back in action Sunday against Alabama State. It's the Teddy Bear Toss game, scheduled for 2 p.m. at the Moody Center.
South Carolina and Stanford held their positions at Nos. 1 and 2 respectively, while Ohio State moved up one spot to No. 3, Indiana went up a spot to No. 4 and Notre Dame moved three spots to No. 5 following a 74-60 win over Connecticut. The Huskies dropped three spots to No. 6 as a result of the loss.