Jan. 5, 2009

PITTSBURGH—For the first time in school history, the University of Pittsburgh men’s basketball program has ascended to the No. 1 spot in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll, announced on Monday.

Pitt ascended to the No. 1 ranking after entering the week ranked No. 3 in both polls. On Monday, No. 2 ranked Connecticut was defeated by No. 11 ranked Georgetown 74-63. No. 3 Pitt defeated both Rutgers (78-72) and Georgetown (70-54). No. 1 ranked North Carolina dropped an 85-78 decision to Boston College.

Pitt earned 30 of the 31 first-place votes in the coaches’ poll. The Associated Press poll will be released later this afternoon.

Pitt has held the No. 2 ranking on 16 different weekly occasions, the last being on December 11, 2006. Since January 7, 2002, Pitt has been ranked among the nation’s top-25 in 117 of the previous 126 national polls. Additionally, Pitt has been ranked among the nation’s top-10 teams in each of the last seven seasons (2002-08).

Pitt will also enter the week ranked No. 1 in the Ratings Percentage Index (www.realtimerpi.com) with a No. 3 ranked strength of schedule.

At 14-0, Pitt remains one of only four undefeated teams at the NCAA Division I level. The other schools include Clemson (14-0), Illinois State (14-0) and Wake Forest (13-0).

Pitt (14-0, 2-0 Big East) hosts St. John’s at the Petersen Events Center on Sunday, Jan. 11 at noon. The contest will be televised on ESPN Regional/WTAE-TV locally.

USA TODAY/ESPN COACHES’ POLL RANKINGS

(as of January 5, 2009)

Others receiving votes: Dayton 54, Illinois State 50, Michigan 49, Saint Mary’s 43, Ohio State 40, Memphis 37, BYU 34, Illinois 34, California 31, Davidson 31, Arkansas 27, Gonzaga 27, Wisconsin 26, Texas A&M 22, Missouri 21, Florida 11, UNLV 10, Kansas 7, Stanford 5, Florida State 1, Maryland 1, Utah State 1, Washington 1.