January 23, 2006
The Texas A&M women?â„¢s basketball team received more votes in The Associated Press women?â„¢s college basketball poll this week.
The Aggies are receiving votes for a second straight week after an absence from receiving votes since Jan. 2001. A&M, which is 15-4 overall and in second place in the Big 12 Conference at 4-2, received 42 votes in the weekly top 25 poll. It marks the fourth most votes among those outside the top 25.
A&M has not been ranked in the top 25 since March 11, 1996 when it won the final Southwest Conference Tournament and received an automatic bid into the NCAA Championship.
Last week, the Aggies beat Missouri (72-52) after falling at No. 8-ranked Baylor (60-49). Baylor slipped to No. 9 this week.
If the Aggies crack the top 25 in the coming weeks, A&M coach Gary Blair would become just the eighth coach to take three different teams into the AP Top 25 since the poll?â„¢s inception. He took Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas into the top 25 when he was each school?â„¢s head coach.
Blair would become one of four active coaches to have taken three different schools to the top 25. The other three active coaches are C. Vivian Stringer at Rutgers, Jim Foster at Ohio State, and Sharon Fanning at Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Blair ranks No. 16 among active coaches in all-time top 25 weekly appearances with 146.
A&M faces Colorado (6-12, 1-5) on Tuesday at 8 p.m. (central) in a game being televised by FSN-Southwest and FSN-Rocky Mountain.
The Aggies hold a 13-game home winning streak and are tied for the most wins overall in the Big 12 at 15. A&M is 15-4 overall and 4-2 in the league.