George Washington returned to the men’s basketball rankings for the first time in nine years on Monday when it was slotted as the No. 21 team in The Associated Press poll and the No. 22 team in the coaches’ poll.
The Colonials, at 9-1, are off to their third-best start in school history after beating Penn State and Rutgers last week. Their only loss this season was to No. 23 Cincinnati, which won, 61-56, on Nov. 28.
George Washington was last ranked in the final polls of the 2005-06 season, when AP voters put the Colonials at No. 14 and the coaches had them at No. 19. That year, they were ranked as high as No. 6, which they achieved twice in the final month of the regular season, and they advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament, beating UNC-Wilmington before losing to Duke.
They also received votes in the AP poll five times last season and 14 times during the 2013-14 season, but were never able to crack the rankings.
In addition to beating Penn State and Rutgers, each of whom traveled to Smith Center last week, George Washington has defeated Tennessee, Seton Hall and USF. Its most notable victory was on Nov. 16, when it beat No. 8 Virginia, then ranked sixth, at home, 73-68.
The Colonials are 7-0 at home this season and have won those games by an average of 15.1 points. The victory over USF was their only true road game thus far, and the win against Tennessee and the loss to Cincinnati were each part of the Barclays Center Classic, which was played in New York.
George Washington’s women’s basketball team was also ranked earlier this season, reaching as high as No. 21 in the AP’s preseason poll before dropping out after three weeks.
Maryland remained No. 6 in the AP poll for the second consecutive week after victories over UConn and Maryland Eastern Shore, and Virginia, following a victory over then-No. 14 West Virginia, jumped two spots to No. 8.
Michigan State (11-0) remained the No. 1 team, with Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Iowa State rounding out the top five. The Sooners jumped from seventh to third after beating then-No. 9 Villanova.
UCLA entered the poll at No. 22 and No. 24 Texas A&M and No. 25 UConn both rejoined the rankings. Gonzaga is out of the poll for the first time since February 2014, and Vanderbilt, Oregon and Utah also dropped out.
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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