Alabama No. 1 in AP, Coaches Polls for first time in 20 years

It’s official: Alabama is the No. 1 team in the land — in basketball. The AP and Coaches Polls came out earlier today and the Crimson Tide occupy the No. 1 spot for the first time since the 2002-03 season. Nate Oats’ squad earned 38 of the 62 first-place votes in the AP Poll, which moved them past Houston. Purdue, last week’s No. 1 team, fell to third after losing to Northwestern on Sunday.

If you’d like to take a trip down memory lane, the 2002-03 Alabama squad was ranked No. 1 for two weeks midway through the season. That team starred Mo Williams, Erwin Dudley, Kennedy Winston, Kenny Walker, and Antonine Pettway. Despite being ranked No. 1 at the end of December, the Crimson Tide finished the year 17-12 and 7-9 in the SEC — including a 63-46 loss to Kentucky. They lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to Indiana. This year, they’re on track to get a No. 1 seed in the tournament.

As for your University of Kentucky Wildcats, well, you probably won’t be surprised to hear that after back-to-back losses, they are nowhere to be found in either Top 25 for the seventh straight week. That one person who voted for them in the AP Poll last week was clearly not impressed by the Cats’ performances vs. Arkansas and Georgia.

AP Top 25 – Feb. 13

Team	Record	Pts	Prv
1. Alabama (38)	22-3	1523	3
2. Houston (22)	23-2	1503	2
3. Purdue (2)	23-3	1408	1
4. UCLA	21-4	1302	7
5. Kansas	20-5	1283	9
6. Texas	20-5	1214	5
7. Virginia	19-4	1212	8
8. Arizona	22-4	1139	4
9. Baylor	19-6	1072	14
10. Tennessee	19-6	896	6
11. Marquette	20-6	815	10
12. Kansas St	19-6	790	12
13. Gonzaga	21-5	761	16
14. Indiana	18-7	717	18
15. Miami	20-5	693	19
16. Xavier	19-6	642	13
17. Saint Mary’s	22-5	567	15
18. Creighton	17-8	517	23
19. Iowa St.	16-8	396	11
20. UConn	19-7	358	21
21. San Diego St.	20-5	271	25
22. TCU	17-8	204	17
23. NC State	20-6	140	22
24. Providence	18-7	136	20
25. FAU	24-2	117	–

Others receiving votes: Missouri 114, Northwestern 96, Illinois 84, Pittsburgh 82, Nevada 36, Oklahoma St. 23, Texas A&M 16, Oral Roberts 9, Iowa 5, Arkansas 4, Rutgers 2, Maryland 1, Coll of Charleston 1, Boise St. 1.