The Mountain West Conference is doing some serious climbing.
A league that has always had to fight for respect as it tries to join the ranks of the power conferences, the 11-year-old Mountain West had three teams in The Associated Press' Top 25 on Monday, one more than the Atlantic Coast Conference and three more than the Pac-10.
Kansas (22-1) remained the runaway No. 1, receiving 55 first-place votes from the national media panel. Syracuse (23-1), which received eight first-place votes, moved up one spot to become the fourth No. 2 in as many weeks. The ranking is the highest for the Orange since a six-week stretch at No. 1 in 1989-90.
Kentucky (22-1), which was No. 1 on two ballots, moved up one place to No. 3, while Villanova and West Virginia, which met Monday night, were fourth and fifth.
New Mexico, BYU and UNLV, which are in a three-way tie for first place in the Mountain West, give the league three teams in the Top 25 for the first time.
"BYU, New Mexico and UNLV are reaping the benefits of unprecedented national television exposure and enhanced non-conference scheduling," Mountain West commissioner Craig Thompson said in a statement. "All three teams have really extended their schedules and some very quality wins are now being reflected. It is a real tribute to the coaches to see Top 25 matchups each week in Conference play as well."
No. 15 New Mexico (21-3) is ranked for the third straight week and seventh overall. BYU (22-3) dropped five places to 17th following its 88-74 loss to UNLV, the game that forged the three-way tie for first and moved the Rebels (19-4) back into the poll at No. 23.
BYU has been ranked for six straight weeks, while UNLV jumps back in after being out the last eight weeks. The Mountain West has sent more than one team to the NCAA tournament in nine of the last 10 years.
"It's been a push of our league the last several years," New Mexico coach Steve Alford said. "We already felt our league has been at that point for a while now. It's good to start getting some national respect. I think we've got some really good players and some really good teams."
