Aggies Break Into AP Top 25 Poll

February 06, 2006

The Texas A&M women's basketball team entered The Associated Press women's college basketball poll this week for the first time since March 1996 with its ranking tied for No. 24.

The Aggies (17-5, 6-3) are in a multi-way tie for second place in the Big 12 Conference and have tallied their most wins overall and in the league since 1996.

"We've earned it," A&M coach Gary Blair said. "We're going to enjoy the one day we're in or the two days we're in and we are going to build off it and we'll use a lot of it in recruiting. But Wednesday comes real quick (against Texas) and (the ranking) does not come out in the paper until Tuesday. We're going to enjoy it. It's all we can do."

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 with a ranking of No. 25.

"I am happy for the kids, but I'm more happy for the fans," Blair said. "They have weathered some very mediocre teams and some very average teams during that time. This place has not been void of talent, it's just been void of winning at the highest level. Sometimes it's just chemistry and putting the right players together at the right time."

The previous three weeks A&M received votes in the weekly top 25 poll for the first time since a four-week stretch that ended on January 9, 2001.

The Aggies beat Texas Tech Sunday, 65-48, at Reed Arena. It was the first win for the Aggies over the Lady Raiders since 1996 ending a stretch of 19 loses.

A&M coach Gary Blair becomes just the eighth coach to take three different teams into the AP Top 25 since the poll's inception. He took Stephen F. Austin and Arkansas into the top 25 when he was each school's head coach.

Blair is 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 Mississippi State.

Blair ranks No. 16 among active coaches and No. 24 all-time in career top 25 weekly appearances with 147.

A&M's highest ranking in the AP poll happened in January of 1995 with a ranking of No. 18.

The Aggies will play at Texas (12-8, 6-4) on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at the Erwin Center in a game televised by FSN Southwest.

AP Poll Notes for Texas A&M and Coach Gary Blair

• Only eight coaches have had three different schools in the AP Top 25 Poll:
  
  • *C. Vivian Stringer-Cheyney, Iowa, Rutgers
    
  • *Jim Foster--Saint Joseph's, Vanderbilt, Ohio St.
    
  • Lin Dunn--Miami, Mississippi, Purdue
    
  • *Sharon Fanning--Kentucky, Tenn.-Chattannoga, Mississippi State
    
  • Don Perrelli--Northwestern, S. Conn., St. John's
    
  • Marianne Stanley--Old Dominion, Southern Cal, Stanford
    
  • Debbie Yow--Florida, Kentucky, Oral Roberts
    
  • *Gary Blair-Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas, Texas A&M
    *active college head coach
    
    
  • Blair is one of four active coaches to take three different teams to the AP Top 25.
  • A&M's last appearance in the AP poll came on March 11, 1996 following winning the Southwest Conference Tournament (No. 25)
  • A&M's highest ranking in the AP poll was No. 18 on Jan. 24, 1995.
  • Blair ranks No. 16 all-time among active coaches in all-time appearances in the AP Top 25 with 147.
  • Blair ranked No. 24 all-time in career appearances in the AP Top 25 with 147.
  
  
  

  Associated Press Top-25 Women's College Basketball Poll
  (Monday, Feb. 6)

  
  

   Prev Team (First-place Votes) Record Points Rank ------------------------ ------ ------ ---- 1. North Carolina Tar Heels (46) 22-0 1,150 1 2. Duke Blue Devils 20-1 1,099 2 3. L-S-U Lady Tigers 20-1 1,019 3 4. Connecticut Huskies 21-2 1,017 4 5. Tennessee Lady Vols 21-2 986 5 6. Maryland Terps 21-2 927 6 7. Ohio State Buckeyes 18-2 878 7 8. Rutgers Scarlet Knights 17-3 795 9 9. Oklahoma Sooners 19-4 726 11 10. Purdue Boilermakers 18-3 716 8 11. Minnesota Golden Gophers 17-4 672 12 12. Baylor Lady Bears 16-4 656 10 13. Georgia Lady Bulldogs 17-5 624 14 14. Stanford Cardinal 16-5 571 15 15. Michigan State Spartans 17-7 448 17 16. Arizona State Sun Devils 18-5 429 18 17. DePaul Blue Demons 18-5 427 13 18. B-Y-U Cougars 19-1 415 19 19. Temple Owls 17-5 324 20 20. New Mexico Lobos 16-6 185 16 21. Boston College Eagles 17-6 182 23 22. Vanderbilt Commodores 16-7 181 22 23. St Johns Red Storm 18-4 104 25 24. Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters 16-4 053 NR 24. Texas A&M Aggies 17-5 053 NR Others receiving votes: Indiana State 45, Utah 44, Florida 42, Notre Dame 31, Missouri 24, Virginia Tech 18, U-C-L-A 17, Tulsa 16, Washington 12, George Washington 11, Kentucky 11, Iowa 8, Bowling Green 7, Florida State 7, T-C-U 6, Charlotte 4, Louisville 4, North Carolina State 3, Hartford 2, Pittsburgh 1.