Tigers stay No. 2 in AP poll, No. 3 in coaches' poll

Tigers stay No. 2 in AP poll, No. 3 in coaches' poll
Monday, March 3, 2008

The University of Memphis men’s basketball team remained at No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released this afternoon.

Tiger fans had hopes of returning to No. 1 after top-ranked Tennessee lost Feb. 26 at Vanderbilt, but media voters chose instead to jump North Carolina (27-2) from No. 3 to the top.

The Tar Heels received 38 first-place votes and 1,745 points to the Tigers’ 21 and 1,706.

No. 3 UCLA (26-3) got 12 first-place votes, with the other going to now-No. 4 Tennessee (26-3).

North Carolina rallied from 18 points down to beat Boston College, 90-80, on Saturday in its only game last week. The Tigers (28-1) bounced back from a Feb. 23 loss to Tennessee with Conference USA wins over Tulsa and Southern Miss.

The U of M remained at No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches Top 25 released today.

North Carolina climbed one spot to No. 1, while Tennessee dropped from No. 1 to No. 4 after losing early last week at Vanderbilt.

The Tigers received six of the 31 first-place votes, with North Carolina getting 19 and No. 2 UCLA receiving six. The Bruins edged Memphis for the No. 2 spot, 718 points to 717.