PHOENIX (AP) — UNLV had a breakthrough in its inaugural season under Barry Odom, reaching its first bowl game since 2014. The opponent in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl knows all about program rebuilding. Once the laughingstock of Power Five football, Kansas has turned things around under third-year coach Lance Leopold with consecutive bowl appearances for the first time in 16 years. Odom quickly changed the culture after the Rebels had one winning season since 2000, leading them to their most wins since the Randall Cunningham-led 1984 team when 11-2. Kansas had its most wins since going 12-1 in 2007.
UNDATED (AP) — Florida Atlantic jumped seven places to No. 7 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll following a double-overtime win over No. 4 Arizona. It’s the Owls’ highest ranking ever after being No. 10 in the preseason AP Top 25. They made a surprising run to the Final Four last season and returned nearly everyone from that team. Purdue remained at No. 1 for the second straight week, with Kansas, Houston, Arizona and UConn rounding out the top five.
UNDATED (AP) — South Carolina remained the No. 1 team in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll Monday. The Gamecocks received all 36 votes from a national media panel, marking the seventh consecutive week that they’ve been No. 1. South Carolina had a run of 38 straight weeks as the top team over the previous two seasons before LSU was the preseason No. 1 this year. With most teams having a light schedule last week ahead of the holidays, the top 10 were unchanged. UCLA, North Carolina State, Iowa and Texas followed the Gamecocks. Southern California, LSU, Colorado, Stanford and Baylor were next. West Virginia entered the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2021 while Washington fell out.
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