Associated Press
Louisville added one more thing to a week that saw it sweep the Big East titles and earn the overall No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament: the school’s first appearance atop The Associated Press’ college basketball poll.
The Cardinals (28-5) took advantage of a week of conference tournament upsets to jump from fifth to No. 1 in the final poll of the season. Since no poll is taken after the NCAA tournament, Louisville had never made it to No. 1 despite winning national championships in 1980 and 1986.
North Carolina (28-4) was second with 11 first-place votes. Memphis (31-3) also got 11 first-place votes. Pittsburgh (28-4) and Connecticut (27-4) both dropped two spots to fourth and fifth. Duke was sixth, and Wake Forest was 12th.
North Carolina, Connecticut, Pittsburgh and Duke were all in the top 10 the entire season.
GRADUATION RATES
North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Louisville and Connecticut share a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA tournament. Their graduation rates have less in common.
The numbers ranged from 86 percent at North Carolina to 33 percent at UConn, according to a report released Monday by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida. Louisville was at 42 percent and Pitt at 69 percent.
Twenty-one of the 65 tournament teams have APR scores under 925, the cutoff below which the NCAA can penalize schools. Last year, 35 teams had APR scores below 925.
Graduation rates remained similar to last year. The rates were based on whether freshmen who entered school between the 1998-99 and 2001-02 school years earned diplomas within six years. Seven teams had a 100 percent graduation rate: Binghamton, Florida State, Marquette, Robert Morris, Utah State, Wake Forest and Western Kentucky. The five lowest rates were at Cal State Northridge (8 percent), Maryland (10 percent), Portland State (17 percent), Arizona (20 percent) and Clemson (29 percent).
PLAY-IN GAME
DAYTON, Ohio ó Alabama State’s five-year absence from the NCAA tournament pales to that of Morehead State, which hasn’t played in the event for a quarter century. The two teams meet tonight in the opening round of the tournament for the right to take on top-seeded Louisville on Friday.
The school from Morehead, Ky., is making its first NCAA appearance since 1984, when it defeated North Carolina A&T before losing to Louisville in the second round.
Alabama State (22-9) made the event in 2004 and lost to Duke in the first round.
ILLINOIS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. ó Coach Bruce Weber says injured guard Chester Frazier (hand) is a long shot to play in an NCAA tournament opener against Western Kentucky.
KENTUCKY
LEXINGTON, Ky. ó Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie brushed aside a suggestion that his Wildcats should have bypassed the NIT after missing out on the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years.
“We’re happy to still be playing,” Gillispie said. “There’s 337 teams. Obviously everyone wants to play in the NCAA tournament, but that’s not possible for every team every year.”
The Wildcats (20-13) play host to UNLV (21-10) tonight in the NIT’s opening round.
THE CITADEL
CHARLESTON, S.C. ó The Citadel (20-12) earned its first-ever bid to a postseason tournament when it was selected for the inaugural 16-team CollegeInsider.com event. Its game at Old Dominion is set for Thursday.
SEC
ATLANTA ó LSU has taken the top two awards on The AP All-SEC team. Marcus Thornton was named player of the year, and Trent Johnson is the top coach.