facebook-pixel

Utah Utes AD calls out college basketball voters after latest AP Top 25 poll

Mark Harlan posted on social media that it’s “embarrassing” Utah women’s basketball isn’t ranked higher in the Top 25

(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) University of Utah athletic director Mark Harlan speaks during a news conference at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Aug. 7, 2023.

The Utah women’s basketball team moved up the Associated Press Top 25 rankings Monday, placing them at No. 18 — four spots better than last week. The higher ranking came after the Utes upset Colorado with a buzzer-beater over the weekend.

But Utah athletics director Mark Harlan took exception with the team’s ranking.

After an X user posted some statistics highlighting the disparity between the Utes’ AP and NCAA NET rankings and how many wins they have over top-10 teams, Harlan quoted the post with a clear message.

“Wake up AP,” Harlan wrote. “That’s embarrassing.”

Utah is currently No. 6 in NET, an important metric used by the NCAA to determine seeding in the postseason tournament. Connecticut is No. 3 in NET, and No. 15 in the AP Poll.

Utah has beaten exactly three Top 10 teams this season: Colorado on Friday, UCLA on Jan. 22 and USC on Jan. 19.

UCLA was No. 2 at the time, and USC was No. 6.

On the men’s basketball side, BYU dropped six spots in the poll to No. 25 after being upset by Oklahoma State on Saturday.

Utah State received some votes, but was further from the rankings than last week after losing on the road to Colorado State.