While riding an eight-game winning streak and a perfect 6-0 mark in the Big East Conference, Seton Hall jumped eight spots to No. 10 in the AP Top 25 Poll released Monday.
Seton Hall was joined in the poll by Garden State rival Rutgers, which is ranked No. 24 and enters the poll for the first time since 1979.
Said Pirates head coach Kevin Willard on having both Seton Hall and Rutgers ranked: “I think it’s great.”
It is the highest ranking for the Pirates since the team was ranked No. 8 on Dec. 19, 2000. The 2000-01 team was slotted at No. 11 on Jan. 2, 2001.
“My guy next to me [Myles Powell] deserves all the credit because he’s the best player in the country,” Willard said Saturday after Powell went for 29 points as Seton Hall won its eighth straight, 82-79, over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden. “But my big fella over here, man [Romaro Gill], and what Ikey [Obiagu]’s doing, they just don’t get enough credit.”
Baylor usurped Gonzaga to become the seventh No. 1 team in this wide-open college basketball season, following Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Louisville and the Zags.
Gonzaga fell to No. 2, followed by Kansas, San Diego State (the lone unbeaten in college hoops), Florida State, Louisville, Dayton, Duke and Villanova.
Butler was the third Big East team in the poll after Seton Hall and Villanova and fell to No. 13 after a week in which the then-No. 5 Bulldogs lost at home to Seton Hall and then lost at DePaul.
Seton Hall has eight Quad 1 and 2 wins, two top-25 victories (over then-No. 7 Maryland and then-No. 5 Butler) and five road wins.
The Pirates were projected as a 3 or 4 seed in several mock NCAA Tournament brackets last week and figure to keep climbing.
Seton Hall begins a three-game homestand Wednesday against Providence, and Willard said it was “realistic” to expect Sandro Mamukelashvili (fractured wrist) back Jan. 29 against DePaul.
“I think the biggest difference between last year and this year is when you have more experience — Ro was coming off a redshirt year, Sandro and Myles Cale were subs the year before — I think these guys know they have more confidence,” Willard said. “They understand what we’re doing, what we’re trying to do. I just think it makes a big difference because of the experience they’ve had.”
Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter who covers Seton Hall and NJ college basketball for NJ Advance Media.