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Bearcats Hit No. 19 in AP Top 25

We’ll have a ranked matchup for the Crosstown Shootout.

NCAA Basketball: Temple at Cincinnati Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

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.

AP Top 25 Week 11

RANK SCHOOL POINTS RECORD PREV
RANK SCHOOL POINTS RECORD PREV
1 Villanova (35) 1591 19-1 1
2 Kansas (28) 1572 18-1 2
3 Gonzaga (2) 1471 19-0 4
4 Kentucky 1414 17-2 5
5 Baylor 1379 18-1 6
6 Florida State 1215 18-2 10
7 Arizona 1190 18-2 14
8 UCLA 1177 19-2 3
9 North Carolina 1171 18-3 9
10 Oregon 1035 18-2 11
11 Butler 914 17-3 13
12 Virginia 803 15-3 16
13 Louisville 796 16-4 12
14 Notre Dame 767 17-3 15
15 Wisconsin 746 16-3 17
16 Creighton 731 18-2 7
17 Duke 628 15-4 18
18 West Virginia 569 15-4 7
19 Cincinnati 478 17-2 20
20 Purdue 412 16-4 21
21 St. Mary's (Cal.) 290 17-2 23
22 Maryland 261 17-2 25
23 South Carolina 171 15-4 24
24 Xavier 146 14-5 22
25 Florida 47 14-5 19
Also Receiving Votes:  Kansas State (15-4) 41; SMU (17-4) 33; Northwestern (16-4) 28; UNC-Wilmington (19-2) 14; Iowa State (12-6) 12; Virginia Tech (15-4) 7; Southern California (17-4) 6; Dayton (15-4) 6; Illinois State (16-4) 1; Akron (16-3) 1; Utah (14-5) 1; Middle Tennessee (17-3) 1