Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Ranked 21st in Latest USA Today/ESPN Poll
December 12, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2006
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University women's basketball team has moved up a notch to 21st in the nation, according to the latest USA Today ESPN Division I Coaches poll. The poll was released Tuesday afternoon (Dec. 12).
BGSU broke into the rankings two weeks ago (Nov. 28) with a national ranking of 24th, and the Falcons were tied for 22nd in the country in last week's poll (Dec. 5).
The Falcons' current run marks only the fourth time in Mid-American Conference history that a league school has had a run of three consecutive weeks in the top 25. Three of those instances have been in the USA Today poll, with the other in the Associated Press listing, but the Falcons have been that MAC team on all four occasions.
Last season, head coach Curt Miller's club moved into the USA Today ESPN Top 25 on Feb. 14, marking the program's first appearance in a national poll in 12 years, and the first appearance for a MAC program in over four years.
Beginning with that Feb. 14 ranking, BGSU was ranked in the USA Today ESPN poll in five consecutive weeks, the longest-ever run by a league institution. On March 6, 2006, the Falcons cracked the Associated Press poll as well.
Some additional information on BGSU and the national polls ...
* BGSU's '05-06 run in the USA Today ESPN poll marked the first time in MAC history that a team has spent five consecutive weeks in the rankings.
* The Falcons' highest-ever ranking was 19th, in the final Associated Press poll of the 1992-93 season (March 16, 1993) ... that capped a run of four-straight weeks in that poll, the longest previous such run.
* This week's BGSU appearance in the USA Today ESPN poll marks only the 15th week in MAC history that a league institution has been listed in the USA Today poll ... BG has been that team in 12 of the 15 weeks.
* A MAC school has been ranked in the Associated Press poll in a total of 12 weeks, and BGSU has been the team in eight of those 12 weeks.
The Falcons (now 7-1 on the season) were listed among 'others receiving votes' in each of the first two USA Today ESPN polls of the season, before being ranked in the top-25 in each of the last three weeks. BGSU has gotten votes in all five Associated Press polls in 2006-07 to date.
The Falcons' next opponent, Duke, is ranked fourth in the nation in the current USA Today ESPN poll. The Falcons will face the Blue Devils in Cancun, Mexico, on Dec. 19.
This week's complete USA Today ESPN poll follows...
USA TODAY/ESPN women's basketball coaches' poll
Dec. 12, 2006
Rank - School (FPV) Record Points LW 1. Maryland (30) 12-0 773 1 2. North Carolina (1) 10-0 739 2 3. Oklahoma 8-0 706 3 4. Duke 9-0 686 4 5. Tennessee 8-1 647 5 6. Connecticut 6-0 631 7 7. LSU 10-1 562 10 8. Ohio State 7-1 523 6 9. Baylor 9-1 499 12 10. Georgia 7-1 483 8 11. Arizona State 8-1 463 13 12. Vanderbilt 8-1 449 11 13. Purdue 8-2 413 9 14. Louisville 9-0 353 16 15. Stanford 4-3 322 15 16. California 8-1 289 17 17. Michigan State 7-1 244 18 18. DePaul 6-1 240 20 19. Texas A&M 6-2 227 14 20. George Washington 8-2 226 19 21. Bowling Green 7-1 128 T22 22. Pittsburgh 10-0 97 24 23. Florida State 10-1 80 25 24. Texas 7-2 69 T22 25. Marquette 9-1 60 NR
Dropped out: No. 21 Rutgers (3-4).
Others receiving votes: Rutgers 37; New Mexico 33; South Florida 25; Arkansas 21; Middle Tennessee 15; TCU 7; Delaware 5; Boston College, Nebraska 4; Brigham Young, Montana 3; Xavier 2; Hofstra, Marist, Missouri, Northern Illinois, Texas Tech, Utah, Washington 1.
THE MAC AND THE POLLS: A COMPLETE HISTORY
(The entire list of appearances by a Mid-American Conference school)
MAC Schools' Weekly Associated Press Top-25 appearances
Date School Rank 2/23/93 Bowling Green 25 3/2/93 Bowling Green 22 3/9/93 Bowling Green 22 3/16/93 Bowling Green 19 2/8/94 Toledo 23 2/15/94 Toledo 25 3/8/94 Bowling Green 25 3/15/94 Bowling Green 24 3/8/99 Toledo 25 11/19/01 Toledo 24 3/6/06 Bowling Green 24 3/13/06 Bowling Green 23
MAC Schools' Weekly USA Today Top-25 appearances
Date School Rank 2/18/86 Ohio 25 2/25/86 Ohio 24 3/1/93 Bowling Green 20 3/9/93 Bowling Green 22 3/16/93 Bowling Green 20 3/15/94 Bowling Green 24 2/15/99 Toledo 25 2/14/06 Bowling Green 25 2/21/06 Bowling Green 25 2/28/06 Bowling Green 24 3/7/06 Bowling Green 22 3/13/06 Bowling Green 21 11/28/06 Bowling Green 24 12/5/06 Bowling Green T-22 12/12/06 Bowling Green 21
(NOTE: Northern Illinois has made multiple appearances in both polls, but none came while the school was a member of the MAC)
