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When you reach no. 3 in the polls there is obviously not a lot of room left to rise. Sure, teams can catch you from behind, but Purdue was 40 points ahead of No. 4 Oklahoma in the AP poll (and the Sooners lost twice anyway) and 14 points ahead of Wichita State in the coaches poll (with the Shockers losing twice).
Purdue trailed Virginia by 112 points in the AP Poll for No. 2 and by 79 points in the coaches poll. That margin closed just a little this week as Purdue stayed at No. 3.
- Villanova (63) 1,623
- Virginia (1) 1,537
- Purdue (1) 1,499
- Duke 1,439
- Kansas 1,338
- Michigan State 1,243
- West Virginia 1,217
- Xavier 1,180
- Cincinnati 1,087
- North Carolina 1,014
- Arizona 974
- Oklahoma 917
- Ohio State 787
- Texas Tech 763
- Gonzaga 610
- St. Mary’s 571
- Wichita State 547
- Clemson 474
- Auburn 470
- Florida 366
- Arizona State 353
- Tennessee 260
- Nevada 190
- Rhode Island 189
- Michigan 123
Since Kendall Stephens is averaging 12.8 points per game for Nevada I am just going to go ahead and add their 190 points to Purdue and move us to No. 2.
All kidding aside, Villanova hosts a good Providence team this week before going to Marquette, while Virginia hosts Clemson and goes to Duke. If Purdue can stay hot this week against a ranked Michigan team and against a bitter rival on its home floor, there could be a chance to move up.
In the coaches poll Purdue stays at No. 3:
- Villanova (31) 798
- Virginia 759
- Purdue (1) 740
- Duke 707
- Kansas 639
- Michigan State 589
- West Virginia 571
- Xavier 566
- Cincinnati 566
- North Carolina 517
- Oklahoma 407
- Arizona 403
- Ohio State 385
- Texas Tech 346
- Gonzaga 288
- Wichita State 280
- Clemson 275
- St. mary’s 217
- Auburn 190
- Arizona State 187
- Tennessee 158
- Florida 136
- Rhode Island 107
- Miami (FL) 98
- Michigan 97