The Missouri Tiger's decisive 81-71 victory over the Villanova Wildcats in Madison Square Garden was enough to vault them two spots in this week's edition of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. The Tigers jumped the Xavier Musketeers and the Connecticut Huskies, neither of which lost this past week.
With the Tigers taking on the lowly Kennesaw State Owls this week, their last opportunity to impress voters before conference play will come in the annual Bragging Rights game vs. the Illinois Fighting Illini who jumped up to No. 9 this week.
As far as the Big 12 goes, Missouri remains right on the heels of the Baylor Bears, who were idle this week. Any hurt feelings over that, though, are certainly assuaged by the Tigers being four spots ahead of their hated rivals, the Kansas Jayhawks.
Here is the full top 10, and here is a link to the entire top 25:
- Syracuse Orange
- Ohio State Buckeys
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Louisville Cardinal
- Duke Blue Devils
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Baylor Bears
- Missouri Tigers
- Xavier Musketeers
- Connecticut Huskies
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