Down Goes Number 1, Again

08 Feb, 2013

Indiana’s latest run as No. 1 didn’t last long, abruptly halted by a loss to unranked Illinois. Duke was bumped from the top spot twice in three weeks. Michigan and Louisville went one and done when their turns came.

It’s not lonely at the top, it’s getting crowded.

With the Hoosiers’ expected tumble in the next poll, that’ll be six straight weeks with a new No. 1, the second-longest streak since the first Associated Press poll in 1949.

The way things have gone this season, coaches might start lobbying voters to not put their teams atop the ballot.

“I do think there will be a revolving door or chairs that we will have a new No. 1 or new top fives moving forward because anyone can beat anyone,” Kansas coach Bill Self said Friday. “There is no dominant team, but there are a lot of really good ones.”

Oddly enough, this season of jumbling started with stability at the top.

Indiana was the preseason No. 1 and held there for the first five weeks before a 5-foot-11 walk-on from Butler – named Alex, not David – knocked Goliath from the top spot with a floater in overtime.

Duke got the bump to No. 1 after that and stayed in place for four polls until North Carolina State’s fans stormed the court after a Blue Devil dumping in Raleigh on Jan. 12.

Since then, No. 1 teams have perched on a precarious pedestal.

After Duke’s first loss, Louisville moved to No. 1. The Cardinals responded to prosperity with not just one loss, but three in a row and tumbled out of the top 10 within two weeks.

The Blue Devils reclaimed the top spot in the Jan. 21 poll and promptly made Louisville’s lapse forgettable with a 90-63 crushing by Miami, the third-worst loss by a No. 1 ever.

Next up, Michigan. The Wolverines actually managed to win a game as No. 1, beating Northwestern. The downward pull of parity punched Michigan in its next game, a road loss to Indiana that sent the Hoosiers back to the top.

Indiana followed by getting caught up in the top-ranked turmoil in Champaign, inexplicably leaving Tyler Griffey open for an uncontested layup at the buzzer that sent hundreds of Illini fans streaming onto the floor and the Hoosiers toward a likely tumble down the poll.

We will wait and see who is unlucky #1 next week.

AP

Mentioned In This Post: