UNI, Iowa State Highly Ranked In Final AP Poll

The state of Iowa has three men's college basketball teams competing in the same NCAA Tournament for only the second time in history. UNI and Iowa State begin post-season play this week as two of the nation's top 11 teams, according to the final Associated Press poll released on Monday (March 16, 2015).

UNI (30-3) has had a week off since winning the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship in St. Louis on March 8. Being idle for seven days cost the Panthers a top-10 ranking in the AP survey. They fell one spot to No. 11 this week after being ranked 10th last week.

The No. 11 ranking is the highest-ever for UNI in the AP poll entering the 2015 NCAA Tournament. The Panthers are seeded 5th in the East Regional. They open play against 12th-seeded Wyoming (25-9) in the second-round of college basketball's premiere event at 12:40 p.m. (Iowa time) at Key Arena in Seattle, Wash (TELEVISION: TBS).

UNI received a No. 9 national ranking in this week's USA Today Coaches poll, also a new standard for highest rating in school history.

Iowa State made the biggest jump in this week's Associated Press rankings, climbing four spots after winning the Big 12 Conference tournament championship on Saturday. The Cyclones (25-8) jumped from No. 13 to No. 9 in the AP's final survey.

Iowa State is the third-seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones are getting ready to play No. 14-seed Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) in a second-round game in Louisville, Ky. The tip-off is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. (Iowa time) at the KFC Yum! Center (TELEVISION: TruTV).

Iowa is the only in-state team going to the NCAA Tournament unranked. The Hawkeyes (21-11) failed to crack the top-25 in the final Associated Press poll, but did receive a vote for consideration. Iowa is seeded 7th in the South Region and is preparing for a second-round game against No. 10-seed Davidson (24-7) at 6:20 p.m. (Iowa time) in Seattle (TELEVISION: TNT).

Should Iowa and Iowa State win two games in the tournament, they will face each other in the round of 16.

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' final 2014-15 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through March 15, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and last week's ranking:

Others receiving votes: Oregon 91, Providence 62, Xavier 18, Davidson 16, Ohio State 12, Stephen F. Austin 12, Wyoming 6, Boise State 5, LSU 5, BYU 3, Valparaiso 3, Harvard 2, Murray State 2, Wofford 2, Colorado State 1, Dayton 1, Iowa 1, Purdue 1.