Bearcats Hit No. 19 in AP Top 25

With the Crosstown Shootout on the horizon, the Cincinnati Bearcats have made another step forward in the AP Top 25, moving to No. 19 in the most recent release of the poll.

The Bearcats reached the outskirts of the top 20 last week and are now inside the walls for the second year in a row. They were ranked No. 17 in the country for a week last season, but failed to maintain a spot in the top 20 and, by the end of December, were out of the rankings entirely. With its new ranking, UC has now been a top 25 team for eight-straight weeks, its longest streak since 2014 when it ended the season ranked for 10 weeks in a row.

Since I mentioned the Shootout above its worth noting that Xavier dropped to No. 24 in the most recent poll.

As for the rest of UC’s American Athletic Conference friends, SMU is the only team in range. The Mustangs are knocking on the door, with 33 votes in the most recent poll. That puts it just two spots back from No. 25 Florida.

At the top of the rankings there was very little change at No. 1 and No. 2 (Villanova and Kansas, respectively), but 19-0 Gonzaga jumped to No. 3 and is followed by Kentucky and Baylor, who all moved up one spot after UCLA’s 96-85 loss at home to Arizona. The rest of the poll can be found below.