Following a week in which it was ranked for the first time since 2007, the Arkansas men’s basketball team jumped seven spots to No. 18 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll released on Monday afternoon.
A week ago, Arkansas earned its first national ranking since November of 2007 and responded with a road win at SMU and double figure home wins against North Texas and Iona. Arkansas’ 6-0 start is its best since 1997-98.
The Razorback women’s team is also 6-0 and ranked No. 25 . It’s the first time both the men and women have been ranked together since 1998.
The ladies knocked off No. 17 Iowa in Las Vegas last Friday to move into the rankings.
More good news also came on Monday for the men, as junior Michael Qualls garnered his first career SEC Player of the Week honor from the league office after posting back-to-back 20 point games that also included nine rebounds each. Qualls’ 15.3 points per game this season ranks seventh in the SEC and also leads a balanced Arkansas offense that is one of just four programs in the nation to score at least 78 points in each game this season.
After playing six games over a 15-day span, No. 18 Arkansas will now head to No. 20 Iowa State (4-1) on Thursday. The game is part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and will be televised on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. CT.