U of L seventh in total AP Poll appearances

by Mike Rutherford on Dec 17, 2008 2:39 PM EST in Basketball

Whenever the task of ranking the best college basketball programs of all-time comes up, I always remark that the first six are easy to name but more difficult to rank. After that, the debate about the remaining four schools to round out the top ten begins to rage. I generally throw Louisville in at No. 7, sometimes in spite of strong opposition.

Well, now I have a bit more ammunition to back up that claim, as the Associated Press has gone over each and every poll since 1949 and ranked the programs based on poll appearances. Despite being one of just two teams in the top 25 to have never been ranked No. 1 by the AP (No. 12 Maryland is the other), Louisville comes in at No. 7, just behind Indiana and just in front of Syracuse.

Here's how the entire top 25 looks:

RK	Team	App*	Avg RK	High RK
1.	North Carolina	746	6.84	1
2.	Kentucky	723	6.63	1
3.	UCLA	636	7.56	1
4.	Duke	606	6.47	1
5.	Kansas	565	8.12	1
6.	Indiana	498	10.36	1
7.	Louisville	480	11.58	2
8.	Syracuse	431	12.53	1
9.	Arizona	413	10.20	1
10.	Illinois	407	10.78	1
11.	Cincinnati	355	10.14	1
12.	Maryland	351	11.68	2
13.	NC State	324	11.16	1
14.	Georgetown	319	11.64	1
15.	Marquette	315	11.34	1
15.	Iowa	315	13.23	1
17.	Michigan	312	10.15	1
18.	Oklahoma	293	12.51	1
19.	Notre Dame	290	11.07	1
20.	Alabama	286	13.52	1
21.	Michigan State	284	11.55	1
22.	St. John's (NY)	281	12.00	1
23.	Ohio State	270	9.26	1
24.	Connecticut	264	9.52	1
25.	Wake Forest	258	13.12	1

Check out the AP Poll archive for more awesomeness along these lines.

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Comments

# 63 in Football

Check out the football poll all-time. Taste it UK.

http://www.appollarchive.com/football/ap/app_total.cfm?sort=totapp&decade=all&rows=all

by clayh2525 on Dec 17, 2008 3:42 PM EST reply actions

Ooooo nice

We’re comin’ for you Penn…we’ll be there in about eight years.

by Mike Rutherford on Dec 17, 2008 3:54 PM EST up reply actions

How many weeks this season?

We have a legimiate shot to overtake IU in 20 more weeks. We should be able to remain ranked most of this season, and we may be able to get in the poll some next year, as well. Meanwhile, I don’t think IU will be sniffing a vote for the next 2 seasons.

by 83fan on Dec 17, 2008 9:17 PM EST reply actions

Indiana

I think they’ll surprise a team or two this season even with their lack of depth, but will still struggle to get 10 wins. But next year they’ll be better and likely hit the poll for a few weeks, especially toward the end of the season. After all, they will be playing in a conference with a weak bottom half. Let’s hope UofL can pass them and become #6 though.

by cardsfan80 on Dec 18, 2008 9:39 AM EST reply actions

Mercy....

how far back do the pollsters go? Isn’t there some sort of Statute of Limitations in basketball?? hehehe I believe 3-4 (?) of yUK’s were in the 40’s and 50’s….not sure about N.C. who is undoubtedly the #1……Go CARDS !!

by Linda on Dec 18, 2008 1:03 PM EST reply actions