Men’s basketball falls just one spot after loss to unranked Oklahoma
AUSTIN — A week after a home loss to then-unranked Oklahoma, the Texas men’s basketball team fell in the newest Associated Press top 25 poll that was released Monday. That fall is no surprise.
What was surprising was the Longhorns, who now have lost two of their last three games to fall to 11-3 overall and 5-2 in games against Big 12 opponents, fell just one spot in the rankings, to No. 6.
To be fair, the AP voters appear to have realized that OU is a good team, bumping the Sooners from the list of unranked teams all the way to No. 9 this week after Oklahoma knocked off its third consecutive opponent ranked in the top 10. OU took down then-No. 9 Kansas Jan. 23, then bumped off the then-No. 5 Longhorns and then topped No. 9 Alabama Saturday in Norman.
Texas is one of six teams listed in this week’s AP poll. Undefeated Baylor, which visits Austin for a 6 p.m. matchup against UT that will be carried nationally on ESPN, retains its unblemished 16-0 record and its No. 2 spot, behind only top-ranked Gonzaga. After No. 6 UT, the other Big 12 teams included in this week’s ranking include No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 17 West Virginia and Kansas, at No. 23.
By falling to No. 6 in the polls, UT now is ranked third among teams in Texas, behind Baylor and Houston, which leapfrogged the Longhorns to come in at No. 5.
