Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Debut in Associated Press Poll at No. 25
12/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 28, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -
Winners of nine straight contests, the Northwestern men's basketball team has cracked the Associated Press rankings this week, coming in at No. 25. NU (10-1) is off to its best start since the 1982-83 season as it heads into its Big Ten Conference opener at Illinois Wednesday evening.
"It's nice recognition for what the guys have done so far," Northwestern head coach Bill Carmody said. "I think they feel good about that, just like any other team and players do.
"I hadn't even thought about it, to tell you the truth," said Carmody when asked if he anticipated his team joining the Top 25. "I think it's good for the guys. You're going along all this time and it's someone saying, 'you guys have done pretty well so far.'"
The Wildcats are currently sporting their longest winning streak in 16 years and a win Wednesday over the Illini would be the program's best since the 1930-31 Big Ten championship squad opened with 14 consecutive victories. NU has four nonconference wins over BCS conference schools this season, tied for the most in the nation. Two of the wins came on a neutral site (Notre Dame, Iowa State), while a third was a true road game (North Carolina State).
The Wildcats are also receiving votes in this week's USA Today/ESPN coaches' poll, earning the fifth-most votes of the teams outside the top 25.
This week's ranking marks Northwestern's first appearance in the AP poll since Jan. 14, 1969. During the 1968-69 season, the Associated Press poll consisted of 20 ranked teams. The Wildcats came in at No. 17 on Jan. 14 after being ranked No. 19 and No. 12 the previous two weeks.
In addition to Wednesday's game at Illinois, Northwestern also hosts Michigan State in its Big Ten home opener at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
