A small shakeup in the middle of the pack, otherwise, not much movement this week. The rankings below reflect games played from January 16th through January 22nd. If you would like to become a voter, please message our Twitter account (@reachsummitpodw). Leave a comment with your thoughts!
1. South Dakota (60 points). Two wins over Western Illinois (70-53) and St. Thomas (70-43) sparked by big runs helped USD improve to 9-0 in league play as they continue to be the unanimous 1-seed. USD now owns the nation’s longest winning streak at 14 games. The Coyotes are 95-2 under Coach Plitzuweit when holding their opponents under 60 points and 47-0 when they hold them under 50 points. Last Week: 1
2. South Dakota State (54 points). SDSU picks up a couple of pretty convincing home wins against St. Thomas (88-47) and Western Illinois (114-50). The Jackrabbits are winning their conference games by an average of 23.4 ppg. Last Week 2
3. North Dakota (48 points). UND continues to roll with a pair of victories over Oral Roberts (53-34) and Kansas City (78-66). Those wins extended their winning streak to six games. Big games this week coming up for the Fighting Hawks the SD schools come to town! Last Week: 3
4. Oral Roberts (38 points). The Golden Eagles went 1-2 last week and stay put at the 4-seed. Last Monday, they defeated St. Thomas 77-42 before dropping games to UND (34-53) and NDSU (70-74). Last week: 4
5. North Dakota State (36 points). NDSU split a pair of games last week to stay at the 5-seed this week. They dropped a close game against Kansas City, 62-67, before defeating Oral Roberts 74-70. Last Week: T-5
6. Kansas City (34 points). Despite going 2-1 last week, Kansas City only rises to number 6 this week. The Roos defeated Denver 77-68 last Tuesday and then NDSU 67-62 before losing to UND 66-78. Last Week: 7
7. St. Thomas (23 points). UST went 0-3 last week; all games on the road. Last Monday, they lost to ORU 44-72. The first road trip to the 605 in the D-1 era turned into two losses for the Tommies. They continued to show improvement despite losing to SDSU 47-88 and USD 43-70. Last Week: T-5
8. Western Illinois (19 points). The Leathernecks are in a bit of a slump right now. They dropped both games last week, losing to USD 53-70 and SDSU 50-114. Western has now lost five games in a row. Last week: 8
9. Omaha (11 points). Despite losing to Denver, the voters ranked Omaha ahead of the Pioneers. Omaha had one game last week, losing to Denver 62-71. Last week: 9
10. Denver (7 points). Denver split their two games last week. Last Monday, they fell to Kansas City 68-77, then last Thursday they defeated Omaha 71-62 to get their first league win of the season. Last week: 10