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We've been quick to demean the media polls for all their myriad flaws, but there's something viscerally nice about having that little number next to the school name. For now, anyway, Xavier has achieved that. After beating Miami (Oh) and Missouri with a little bit more effort than most thought it would take, Xavier went to Michigan and hammered the favored Wolverines by 16. That apparently caught the eye of enough voters to get Xavier up to the #23 spot in the AP poll this week. Interestingly enough, that number is very close to the #22 that KenPom has Xavier at right now.Thanksgiving and all of the recent pitfalls it has brought loom, but for now some people are finally recognizing how good the Musketeers are.
AP Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky Wildcats (59) | 4-0 | 1,619 |
| 2 | Maryland Terrapins (6) | 3-0 | 1,518 |
| 3 | Michigan State Spartans | 3-0 | 1,448 |
| 4 | Iowa State Cyclones | 2-0 | 1,297 |
| 5 | Kansas Jayhawks | 1-1 | 1,243 |
| 6 | Duke Blue Devils | 4-1 | 1,238 |
| 7 | Oklahoma Sooners | 2-0 | 1,210 |
| 8 | Villanova Wildcats | 4-0 | 1,153 |
| 9 | North Carolina Tar Heels | 3-1 | 1,141 |
| 10 | Gonzaga Bulldogs | 2-0 | 1,138 |
| 11 | Arizona Wildcats | 4-0 | 970 |
| 12 | Virginia Cavaliers | 4-1 | 872 |
| 13 | Indiana Hoosiers | 3-0 | 846 |
| 14 | California Golden Bears | 3-0 | 746 |
| 15 | Miami-Florida Hurricanes | 5-0 | 724 |
| 16 | Purdue Boilermakers | 5-0 | 550 |
| 17 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 3-0 | 480 |
| 18 | Connecticut Huskies | 3-0 | 432 |
| 19 | Vanderbilt Commodores | 3-0 | 431 |
| 20 | Wichita State Shockers | 2-1 | 423 |
| 21 | Oregon Ducks | 4-0 | 369 |
| 22 | LSU Tigers | 3-0 | 285 |
| 23 | Xavier Musketeers | 3-0 | 143 |
| 24 | Cincinnati Bearcats | 4-0 | 110 |
| 25 | Texas A&M Aggies | 4-0 | 100 |
| 25 | SMU Mustangs | 3-0 | 100 |
| Also Receiving Votes: Utah 95, George Washington 85, Baylor 81, West Virginia 69, Butler 59, Louisville 40, Northern Iowa 23, Iowa 20, Dayton 18, Tulsa 17, Colorado State 13, Providence 8, Georgetown 4, Michigan 3, Valparaiso 2, Washington 1, Chattanooga 1 | |||
| Dropped: Utah 16, Baylor 20, Butler 22, Michigan 24 | |||