Men's Basketball Southern Conference

College of Charleston Cracks AP Top 25

Charleston, S.C. -- The College of Charleston men's basketball team
is ranked 25th in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll released on
Monday.
The Cougars, who finished the 1996-97 and 1998-99 seasons ranked 16th
in the final AP poll, are 6-0 and off to their best start since opening the
1987-88 season 7-0.

"This is a great honor and a tribute to our players and staff,"
said first-year Cougar coach Tom Herrion. "We're thrilled to be 6-0 and
being in the top 25 with some great teams. This increases expectations and
the amount of attention our program will get from every opponent. This is
great exposure for the school but we have to worry about taking care of
business one day at a time and tonight that means practicing and continuing
to focus on our next opponent Central Florida (UCF)."

"It's an honor to be ranked among the top 25 teams in the country,"
added senior guard A.J. Harris. "We understand that expectations will be
higher but that just means we have to work harder."

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' men's college basketball
poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Dec. 8, total
points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a
25th-place vote and previous ranking:

Team Record Points
1. Arizona (70) 4-0 1,774
2. Alabama 6-0 1,637
3. Duke 5-0 1,594
4. Pittsburgh (1) 5-0 1,588
5. Oregon 5-0 1,432
6. Oklahoma 4-1 1,358
7. Indiana 6-0 1,356
8. Texas 5-1 1,278
9. Connecticut 5-0 1,144
10. Notre Dame 8-1 943
11. Missouri 4-0 906
12. Kentucky 4-1 840
13. Xavier 4-1 811
14. Florida 6-2 750
15. Illinois 5-0 692
16. Marquette 5-1 669
17. Tulsa 4-0 602
18. Maryland 4-2 601
19. Stanford 4-1 561
20. Kansas 3-3 407
21. Michigan State 4-2 361
22. North Carolina 5-2 349
23. Creighton 6-0 277
24. Mississippi State 5-1 235
25. Coll. of Charleston 6-0 152