Louisville Men’s Basketball defeated Western Kentucky last Friday in Nashville. Now 7-0, and with Duke’s home loss to unranked mid major Stephen F. Austin, the former number 2 Cards jumped the one spot to number 1 in both the AP and USA TODAY Coaches Polls.
AP Poll
https://twitter.com/ap_top25/status/1201549458485448709?s=21
The Cards will face a daunting opponent for their first game as the number 1 team when Michigan rolls into town. The Wolverines are fresh off winning the Battle 4 Atlantis. They defeated both North Carolina, ranked 6th at the time, and Gonzaga, ranked 8th at the time. Michigan has jumped from unranked to 4th after their impressive effort in the Bahamas.
This is Louisville’s first time since January of 2013 that they have been ranked number 1 in the AP Poll.
.@LouisvilleMBB holds the top spot in the AP Poll for the first time since January 2013! đź‘€ pic.twitter.com/Yq5Pgb9HgN
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) December 2, 2019
Of course, that was the wonderful championship year when we defeated the Michigan Wolverines in the title game. Seems as if things are coming full circle.
The AP Poll top 10 is rounded out with Kansas at 2, Maryland at 3, defending national champion Virginia at 5, Ohio State at 6, North Carolina at 7, Kentucky at 8, Gonzaga at 9, and Duke at 10. The Cards got 48 first place votes in the AP Poll while Michigan got 9, Virginia got 5, and Kansas got 3. Louisville will face half of the current top 10 teams in the AP Poll this season.
USA TODAY Coaches Poll
The Coaches Poll looks quite a bit different than the AP Poll. The coaches still gave Michigan a huge bump, but to number 5 not 4. Both polls agree tomorrow night’s matchup will be a daunting one for Louisville.
The biggest surprise is at 2 where the coaches put defending national champ Virginia. Kansas at 3, Maryland at 4, Ohio State at 6, North Carolina at 7, Duke at 8, Gonzaga at 9, and UK at 10 round out the top 10. As with the AP Poll, the Cards play half of the top 10 in the coaches poll.
Louisville received 25 first place votes in the coaches poll. Virginia and Maryland each received 2. Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio State each received 1.
Louisville is in action at 7:30 pm tomorrow night against 4/5 ranked Michigan in the KFC Yum! Center. The Cards will be looking to hold onto that number 1 spot against their biggest challenge so far this season.
