BYU Continues To Rise Up AP Top 25 Despite Not Playing The Past Week

Mar 9, 2020, 10:33 AM

Zac Seljaas - Gonzaga Bulldogs - BYU Cougars...

Courtesy of BYU Photo

KSL Sports

LAS VEGAS, Nevada – BYU basketball was off the past week but that didn’t stop the Cougars from moving up in the latest AP Top 25 poll. In the week 19 Associated Press Top 25, BYU moved up one spot from 15 to 14.

With a 24-7 record, BYU enters the month of March as one of the hottest teams in college basketball riding a nine-game winning streak and completing a perfect record in the month of February.

BYU’s first game in nine days takes place tonight in the Semifinals of the West Coast Conference Tournament here in Las Vegas at The Orleans Arena. First-year head coach Mark Pope and his team will take on the Saint Mary’s Gaels for the third time this season.

BYU split with the Gaels in the previous two matchups losing in Moraga and then winning in Provo on a TJ Haws game-winning shot.

This is BYU’s fourth consecutive week in the AP Top 25 and they’ve moved up each week since they entered at No. 23 back on February 17th. It’s only the 12th time in BYU basketball history that a team has appeared in the AP poll at least four weeks during a season.

If BYU gets past Saint Mary’s, a team that’s receiving votes in the latest AP poll, they will likely face the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Tuesday night in the WCC Championship Game. The Zags are ranked No. 2 in the latest AP Top 25 poll.

Week 19 AP Top 25 College Basketball Poll

1. Kansas

2. Gonzaga

3. Dayton

4. Florida State

5. Baylor

6. San Diego State

7. Creighton

8. Kentucky

9. Michigan State

10. Duke

11. Villanova

12. Maryland

13. Oregon

14. BYU

15. Louisville

16. Seton Hall

17. Virginia

18. Wisconsin

19. Ohio State

20. Auburn

21. Illinois

T-22. Houston

T-22. West Virginia

24. Butler

25. Iowa

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday from 12-3 pm) on KSL Newsradio. Follow him on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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