Dec. 7, 2009

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men's basketball team, which improved to 7-0 following road wins at Arizona and Santa Clara last week, moved up the rankings in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches' polls, which were released Monday.

Playing on the road for the first time this season, the Runnin' Rebels worked two overtimes to defeat the Wildcats, 74-72, in Tucson, Ariz., this past Wednesday, then beat Santa Clara, 66-63, on Saturday, in Calif. It is the first time that UNLV has started a season 7-0 since the program's last Final Four campaign of 1990-91.

UNLV moved up six spots in the AP poll and is currently No. 18, the highest ranking in the media poll since UNLV was No. 16 in the rankings that came out March 1, 1993. The Runnin' Rebels were ranked No. 19 in the final AP poll in 2007, but that came out before the start of the NCAA Tournament where UNLV advanced to the Sweet 16. The AP does not issue a poll after the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament.

The Runnin' Rebels are No. 17 in the latest coaches' poll, a jump of four spots from last week's rankings, and the highest they have been in that poll since the 2006-07 final ranking of No. 14.

UNLV is the highest-ranked team from a non-BCS conference in either poll, while the only team in the West ranked higher than the Runnin' Rebels is No. 17/16 Washington.

Head coach Lon Kruger's team returns to Las Vegas to play Kansas State at the Orleans Arena on Saturday at 4 p.m. Less than a few hundred tickets are still available for that game and may be purchased by calling (702) 284-7777 or by going to OrleansArena.com. Capacity at the Orleans Arena for basketball is just 7,471.

Associated Press Top 25Rank    Team (1st Place Votes)  Record  Pts1. Kansas (62)          7-0     1,621 2. Texas (1)           6-0     1,514 3. Villanova (1)       8-0     1,460 4. Kentucky            8-0     1,417 5. Purdue          7-0     1,409 6. West Virginia       5-0     1,272 7. Syracuse (1)        8-0     1,270 8. Duke            7-1     1,058 9. Tennessee           6-1     1,04710. Florida         8-0     1,02411. North Carolina      7-2     98512. Michigan State      6-2     87613. Ohio State          7-1     80614. Connecticut         6-1     78715. Georgetown              6-0     72316. Texas A&M           7-1     51217. Washington              6-1     49518. UNLV             7-0     42919. Cincinnati          5-1     33420. Wisconsin           6-1     29821. Gonzaga             6-2     27922. Butler          6-2     22123. Texas Tech          8-0     21924. Georgia Tech        6-1     17125. Mississippi         7-1     127

USA TODAY/ESPN Coaches' Top 25Rank    Team (1st Place Votes)  Record  Pts1. Kansas (31)          7-0     775 2. Texas           6-0     732 3. Villanova           8-0     699 4. Kentucky            8-0     672 5. Purdue          7-0     650 6. Syracuse            8-0     623 8. West Virginia       5-0     600 8. Duke            7-1     542 9. Tennessee           6-1     48310. North Carolina      7-2     44111. Florida             8-0     41812. Connecticut         6-1     41313. Georgetown              6-0     39314. Michigan State      6-2     38615. Ohio State          7-1     36516. Washington          6-1     27617. UNLV             7-0     25318. Texas A&M           7-1     21619. Cincinnati          5-1     17720. Butler          6-2     15021. Georgia Tech        6-1     12822. Gonzaga             6-2     12623. Wisconsin           6-1     10424. Vanderbilt          6-1     6724. Clemson             7-2     67