IU men’s basketball jumped four spots in the latest AP Top 25 poll to No. 9 this week.
The improvement in the rankings comes after IU played three games in five days, including a victory over then-No. 3 North Carolina, 76-67.
The Hoosiers led wire-to-wire against the Tar Heels, and the two wins against SIU-Edwardsville on Friday and Southeast Missouri State onSunday pushed their home win streak to 23.
The Hoosiers are the top-ranked team in the Big Ten at No. 9, with Wisconsin remaining at No. 17 for the second straight week and Purdue falling three spots to No. 18 after losing to No. 11 Louisville in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
North Carolina dropped four spots to No. 7 after falling to IU at Assembly Hall on Wednesday.
The Hoosiers’ ranking benefitted from the win, moving up in the rankings after beating North Carolina, as well as from recent losses for several top 10 teams, such as No. 1 Kentucky, No. 6 Virginia and No. 7 Xavier.
Reigning national champions Villanova jumped to No. 1 following Kentucky’s loss to former IU All-American Steve Alford’s UCLA team.
The Bruins made a big leap in the polls this week from No. 11 to No. 2.
IU will play just one game this week, a Saturday matchup at home against Houston Baptist at 4 p.m.
Zain Pyarali
