Davidson Wildcats ranks 24th in AP poll

Davidson heads into the men’s college basketball postseason as the No. 24 team in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The Wildcats (23-6, 14-4) have won nine consecutive games and are the top seed in this week’s Atlantic 10 tournament. They will play the winner of a Thursday game between eighth-seed Massachusetts and No. 9 La Salle in the quarterfinals at noon Friday.

It’s the first time since the 2008-09 season the Wildcats have been ranked. They were ranked 20th in the preseason, then spent five more weeks in the rankings before dropping out, with their losses coming against ranked teams Oklahoma, Purdue and Duke.

“This is very special for our players, our program and the college,” said Wildcats coach Bob McKillop. “But I’m happy we are getting it at the end of the season rather than at the beginning.”

Unbeaten Kentucky (31-0) remains the country’s No. 1 team in this week’s poll. Duke (28-3) jumped ahead of No. 3 Virginia (28-2) to second, while North Carolina (21-10) remains at No. 19.

This story was originally published March 9, 2015 at 1:46 PM with the headline "Davidson Wildcats ranks 24th in AP poll."