Men’s Basketball Ranked 13th in Year-End AP Poll; 10th in Coaches Poll


OMAHA, Neb. —  The Creighton men’s basketball team finished the 2023-24 season ranked 13th in the nation by the Associated Press and 10th in the USA Today Coaches poll. The Bluejays were also 11th in the NET.

It’s the 20th time in 21 polls this season that Creighton has been included in both the AP and Coaches rankings. Creighton’s NET ranking of 11 is its best at the end of the season since also being 11th in 2019-20, though that postseason was canceled due to COVID-19.

This year marks the first time that the AP has done a poll at the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament, and marks the seventh time in program history that Creighton ends the year in the Top 25. The Bluejays were No. 7 in the 2019-20 poll (when COVID-19 canceled the NCAA Tournament), as well as No. 15 (2002-03), No. 16 (2013-14), No. 19 (2011-12 and 2020-21) and No. 22 (2012-13).

It’s also the 10th time that Creighton has been in the end-of-season USA Today Coaches poll Top 25, also being recognized in 1973-74 (17th), 1974-75 (16th), 2002-03 (23rd), 2011-12 (21st), 2012-13 (21st), 2013-14 (20th), 2019-20 (9th), 2020-21 (14th) and 2022-23 (12th).

Creighton’s best AP ranking in program history is seventh, done five times (Jan. 16, 2017, March 10, 2020, March 18, 2020, Jan. 7, 2021 and Nov. 28, 2022). CU owns 29 weeks in the AP Top 10 in its history, with all but one of those recognitions coming during Greg McDermott‘s tenure. Creighton’s best AP rank this year was eighth, done four times.

Including today’s ranking, Creighton has now been ranked by the AP 141 times in program history, with 114 of those under the direction of McDermott. Creighton is 175-73 all-time as a ranked team, including a 141-61 figure under McDermott. Creighton has been ranked at least one week in 10 of McDermott’s 14 seasons on The Hilltop after doing it just five different seasons in program history before his 2010 arrival.

Creighton was one of three BIG EAST Conference schools in the top 25, joining No. 1 Connecticut and No. 12 Marquette. The top five teams in the AP poll are Connecticut, Purdue, Alabama, Houston and Tennessee.

Creighton is also one of eight schools in the country with both its men’s and women’s teams ranked in the year-end AP Top 25, joining Baylor, Connecticut, Duke, Gonzaga, Iowa State, NC State and South Carolina.

Creighton joined Baylor as the only schools with a top-25 team in the year-end poll in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s volleyball in 2023-24.

Creighton finished the 2023-24 season with a 25-10 record, matching its most wins in a season since 2016-17. The Bluejays made their third trip to the Sweet 16 in the past four seasons and were one of three teams to defeat eventual national champion Connecticut.

Associated Press Top 25

April 9, 2024 (Year-End)

Rk    School    W-L     PTS

1    Connecticut (58)    37-3    1450

2    Purdue    34-5    1386

3    Alabama    25-12    1217

    Houston    32-5    1217

5    Tennessee    27-9    1203

6    Illinois    29-9    1095

7    North Carolina    29-8    1048

8    Iowa State    29-8    1012

9    Duke    27-9    982

10    NC State    26-15    928

11    Arizona    27-9    828

12    Marquette    27-10    825

13    Creighton    25-10    797

14    Clemson    24-12    740

15    Gonzaga    27-8    684

16    Baylor    24-11    535

17    San Diego State    26-11    505

18    Auburn    27-8    467

19    Kansas    23-11    265

20    Kentucky    20-10    247

21    Saint Mary’s    26-8    207

22    Utah State    28-7    186

23    Washington State    25-10    135

24    South Carolina    26-8    117

25    Dayton    25-8    112

Others receiving votes: Texas A&M 87, Oregon 77, Colorado 75, BYU 71, Texas 62, James Madison 61, Seton Hall 39, Grand Canyon 37, Wisconsin 27, Northwestern 23, Texas Tech 19, Indiana St 18, Miami 13, Michigan St. 12, Duquesne 9, Yale 7, Arkansas 6, New Mexico 6, Colorado St. 5, Maryland 5, Florida 4, Rutgers 2, Oakland 1, Nevada 1.  

USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll

April 9, 2024 (Year-End)

Rk    School    W-L     PTS

1    UConn (31)    37-3    775

2    Purdue    34-5    744

3    Houston    32-5    651

4    Alabama    25-12    642

5    Tennessee    27-9    638

6    North Carolina    29-8    578

7    Illinois    29-9    545

8    Iowa State    29-8    540

9    Duke    27-9    521

10    Creighton    25-10    473

11    Marquette    27-10    458

12    Arizona    27-9    440

13    NC State    26-15    389

14    Baylor    24-11    331

15    Clemson    24-12    326

16    Gonzaga    27-8    313

17    Auburn    27-8    302

18    San Diego State    26-11    218

19    Kentucky    23-10    172

20    Utah State    28-7    164

21    Kansas    23-11    136

22    Saint Mary’s    26-8    129

23    South Carolina    26-8    124

24    Washington State    25-10    62

25    Texas Tech    23-11    50

Others receiving votes: BYU 49; Florida 44; Dayton 37; Colorado 36; Wisconsin 31; James Madison 30; Seton Hall 27; Texas 16; Indiana State 16; Michigan State 15; Texas A&M 13; Oregon 10; Oakland 10; Grand Canyon 10; Northwestern 5; Yale 2; Boise State 2; Nevada 1;

First appeared on gocreighton.com

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