Stockton To Malone ...

[Tugg Speedman]

Indiana Stays No. 1 in AP Poll as Ex-Jazz Pair's Schools Rise
2013-02-25 19:18:39.963 GMT


By Eben Novy-Williams
Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Indiana University sits atop the Associated Press Top 25 for the fourth straight week, while a pair of smaller schools with ties to two Hall of Fame National Basketball Association teammates made historic jumps.

Gonzaga University, alma mater of former Utah Jazz guard John Stockton, is No. 2 for the first time in school history.
Louisiana Tech University is ranked No. 25 this week, its first time in the poll since the 1984-85 season, when it was led by Karl Malone.

Malone and Stockton played together in Utah for 18 NBA seasons, leading the Jazz to the playoffs every year, and won gold medals with the U.S. teams at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.  Both were inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on their first ballot.

Indiana (24-3), which has been the top-ranked college basketball team for 10 weeks this season, beat then-No. 4 Michigan State on Feb. 19. The Hoosiers received all but one of the 65 votes from a national panel of media members.

Gonzaga (27-2) received the other first-place vote. The Bulldogs have won 10 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 19 and are a perfect 14-0 in West Coast Conference play.

Duke (24-3), Michigan (23-4) and Miami (22-4) round out the Top 5. Kansas (23-4) is sixth, followed by Georgetown (21-4), Florida (22-4), Michigan State (22-6) and Louisville (22-5).