Syracuse rose to the No. 1 ranking in both the Associated Press Top 25 and ESPN/USA Today coaches’ poll on Monday, marking the first time SU has ascended to the top spot since the final week of the 2009-10 regular season.

Following losses by Kentucky and Ohio State — the top two teams in last week’s polls — this past weekend, SU jumped two spots in each poll from the No. 3 ranking. Syracuse (10-0) received 51 of 65 first-place votes in the AP poll and 28 of 30 first-place votes in the coaches’ poll.

The Orange defeated George Washington 85-50 on Saturday, while the Wildcats fell to Indiana and the Buckeyes lost to Kansas.

Following SU’s win over GW, Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine said he saw Ohio State lost earlier in the day and watched a little of the Kentucky game. But even with the speculation SU would assume the top spot, he didn’t get too hyped over the notoriety.

‘For us, it don’t matter,’ Jardine said after the game. ‘No. 3, No. 2, No. 1, it’s still the same.’

Ohio State ranked second behind SU in both polls, garnering seven first-place votes in the AP Top 25 and two first-place votes in the ESPN/USA Today Top 25 coaches’ poll. In the AP, Kentucky, Louisville and North Carolina round out the top 5. Kentucky, Louisville and Duke complete the top 5 for the ESPN/USA Today poll.

The Orange’s next game is Saturday at North Carolina State (6-3), and it’s SU’s first true road game of the season.

The last time Syracuse held the No. 1 ranking, it lost in its first week as the top team, falling at Louisville. Orange junior guard Brandon Triche stressed SU will be able to remain focused and ‘humbled,’ even as the No. 1 team, because of the constant competition for playing time.

‘We just got to treat it like we’re the underdog,’ Triche said after the GW game. ‘We have to get better, and I think this year more than anything we have a lot of guys who are humbled. It’s so much competition even just being on the bench, everybody wants to play, so it’s not going to be a letdown for us.’

mcooperj@syr.edu 

Published on December 11, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr