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Top 25 Stock Watch: Gonzaga, Miami rise
Posted By HOOPSWORLD On February 12, 2013 @ 7:00 pm In All,Wirenews | Comments Disabled
by Scott Gleeson, USA TODAY Sports
Another poll, another No. 1.
Following a week when the top three teams in the country all lost, Duke edged Indiana to reclaim the top spot in the USA TODAY Sports’ Coaches Poll, reshuffling the nation’s top rankings following a week of stunning upsets
“It’s a crazy season, man,” Illinois forward Tyler Griffey said. The Illini shocked then-No. 1 Indiana last week.
“It just goes to show you anybody can beat anybody on any given night. TCU beating Kansas, us beating Indiana: It’s an unbelievable year, but that’s what makes it exciting. That’s what makes it so much fun to play.”
Yet in a season of unpredictability, the real surprise has been two teams without the rich basketball pedigrees of the Blue Devils and Hoosiers. That whole Duke or Indiana debate is overdone.
No. 3 Gonzaga and No. 4 Miami (Fla.) surged into the top five this week. Gonzaga, an NCAA tournament mainstay playing in a mid-major conference, finally maneuvered into the top five after coming close in previous weeks.
Miami, unranked last month, has seen its stock skyrocket significantly each of the last few weeks, storming from No. 11 to No. 4 this week.
Miami, meanwhile, has always been a football school. Not anymore. Duke might be the best team in the country, but the Hurricanes debuted at No. 15 after crushing the Blue Devils by 27 points the last time they were ranked No. 1.
“I think we’re starting to see results of hard work,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said in a conference call Monday. “I think our players are getting some of the attention that other teams in our conference used to get. But they have to stay hungry to do something haven’t done before, stay focused towards improvement.”
Stock went up in the poll: Oklahoma State
The Cowboys leaped from No. 24 to No. 16 following recent wins against Kansas, Baylor and Texas.
Stock went down in the poll: Kansas
The Jayhawks bounced back with a win against Kansas State on Monday followed an abysmal week with Big 12 losses to last-place TCU and Oklahoma. Kansas went from No. 5 last week to … [For more on Top 25 Stock Watch: Gonzaga, Miami on the rise, click here.]
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