AP Poll – Feb. 22, 2016: Tennessee drops out of poll for first time in 31 years, Colorado State enters at No. 25
Colorado State (24-1, 14-0) entered the poll at No. 25 for the first time since 2002. The Rams are on a program-record 21 game win streak and school-record 10 game road win streak. The 21-game win streak ranks as the second longest active win streak in the country behind only Connecticut. Over those 21 games, CSU has an average margin of victory of 18.6 points per game and has won 11 of those games by at least 20 points. They are undefeated in Mountain West play.
“It is great recognition for our program and for the hard work this team has put in, but it isn’t going to change our approach to everything we do,” said head coach Ryun Williams said. “From the beginning, our goals have always been ones we can control; top 25 voting is something we cannot control. We know that we are going to continue to get every opponent’s best effort – maybe even more so now – and we are going to have to continue to play well to reach our ultimate goal. It is fun for our players to see that people across the country are starting to take notice, and it’s also a great thing for our fans who have been tremendous all year. We’re thankful for their support, and it’s something they can enjoy too, but we have a lot of work to do and our goals are still in front of us.”
Colorado travels to New Mexico on Wednesday to take on the Lobos at 7 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed on TheMW.com.
Notes
- Tennessee (16-11, 7-7 SEC) dropped out of the Associated Press poll for the first time in 31 years after 565 consecutive weeks in the top rankings. The Lady Vols lost two of their last three games including defeats to No. 3 South Carolina and unranked LSU. They are .500 in conference play after losing 57-56 to LSU Sunday in Baton Rouge, La.
- UConn remained the unanimous No. 1. There were no changes in the top nine. Louisville moved up a spot to No. 10.
- No. 18 Syracuse moved up five spots. Michigan State also rose five spots to No. 20.
- Missouri entered the poll at No. 24. Colorado State entered the poll at No. 25.
- No. 22 Oklahoma fell five spots after two losses last week. The Cowgirls suffered defeats at the hands of No. 4 Baylor and TCU.
- Florida dropped out of the poll. The Gators lost to three of its last four games including defeats to No. 3 South Carolina, Auburn and Georgia.
Full Associated Press Poll and Voter Ballots (scroll to bottom for embedded spreadsheet) || AP’s story on the poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS | PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn (32) | 26-0 | 800 | 1 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 25-1 | 756 | 2 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 25-1 | 746 | 3 |
| 4 | Baylor | 27-1 | 704 | 4 |
| 5 | Ohio State | 23-4 | 656 | 5 |
| 6 | Maryland | 25-3 | 623 | 6 |
| 7 | Oregon State | 24-3 | 608 | 7 |
| 8 | Texas | 24-2 | 581 | 8 |
| 9 | Arizona State | 24-4 | 563 | 9 |
| 10 | Louisville | 22-6 | 508 | 11 |
| 11 | Texas A&M | 20-7 | 463 | 12 |
| 12 | Florida State | 21-5 | 421 | 10 |
| 13 | Stanford | 22-6 | 409 | 15 |
| 14 | UCLA | 20-7 | 387 | 12 |
| 15 | Kentucky | 19-6 | 338 | 16 |
| 16 | Mississippi State | 22-6 | 319 | 14 |
| 17 | Miami | 22-5 | 258 | 18 |
| 18 | Syracuse | 22-6 | 241 | 23 |
| 19 | DePaul | 23-7 | 221 | 21 |
| 20 | Michigan State | 20-7 | 134 | 25 |
| 21 | South Florida | 19-7 | 131 | 19 |
| 22 | Oklahoma State | 19-7 | 94 | 17 |
| 23 | Oklahoma | 18-8 | 91 | 20 |
| 24 | Missouri | 21-6 | 76 | NR |
| 25 | Colorado State | 24-1 | 58 | NR |
