Pre-March Polls: Madness Awaits
02/27/2024
By: Jeff Yoder
Houston Supplants UConn as Men’s No. 1 Team; South Carolina on the Doorstep of Undefeated Season
Just two days remain before we flip the calendar to March, and you know what that means. The ‘Madness’ is almost here. Selection Sunday (Mar. 17) is less than three weeks away. Our final AP Polls of February show us where teams stand prior to a few final regular-season matchups and conference tournaments. What’s the takeaway? Let’s go deeper for the men’s and women’s hoops collective.
1. Houston (24-3) | ↑1
2. Purdue (25-3) | ↑1
3. UConn (25-3) | ↓2
4. Tennessee (21-6) | ↑1
5. Marquette (21-6) | ↑2
6. Arizona (21-6) | ↓2
7. Kansas (21-6) | ↑2
8. Iowa State (21-6) | ↓2
9. North Carolina (22-6) | ↑1
10. Duke (21-6) | ↓2
Men’s Poll Takeaways: Three teams are jockeying for the No. 1 overall seed down the stretch, and it’s been those three squads who have traded places at the top of the poll for the second half of the season. Houston, Purdue and UConn are all three-loss teams with a sizable advantage over the field. Someone will nab the fourth No. 1 seed, but it could be anyone. For now, Houston has supplanted UConn after the Huskies fell to Creighton last week and Purdue lost to Ohio State. UConn has held No. 1 for the longest duration of the year, but Purdue holds the highest NET ranking and strength of schedule out of the three. Beyond that, the rest of the top-10 could all make claims for the fourth 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament, if they finish strong.
1. South Carolina (27-0) | —
2. Ohio State (24-3) | —
3. Texas (26-3) | ↑2
4. Stanford (24-4) | ↓1
5. Virginia Tech (23-4) | ↑3
6. Iowa (24-4) | ↓2
7. USC (21-5) | —
8. UCLA (21-5) | ↑4
9. LSU (24-4) | ↑4
10. UConn (24-5) | ↑5
Women’s Poll Takeaways: It’s still South Carolina against the field. And despite Caitlin Clark’s record chase — now targeting all-time NCAA scorer Pete Maravich — the Hawkeyes continue to fall down the polls with some rare losses in the past two weeks. Ohio State and Texas have solidified themselves as should-be 1-seeds. UCLA (8), LSU (9) and UConn (10) are all rising fast as we sprint towards March. Unless someone pulls the giant-slayer card, it’s the Gamecocks and Dawn Staley en route to 36-0 and another national title.
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