Unranked Teams Beating No. 1

By Mel Greenberg

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Where have I been?

If you read the print edition of The Inquirer, you'd know the answer to that.

But it's time to get back into blog shape.

I know after last night's upset of Tennessee, you're probably wondering when was the last time an unranked team beat a No. 1 team in the AP Poll.

Here's the history:

March 1991 - Penn State finished No. 1 in the final AP poll. The Nittany Lions then fell at home to unranked James Madison, 73-71, in the second round of the NCAA tournament at State College.
The loss, incidentally, helped pave the wave for UConn to eventually emerge from Philadelphia to advance to its first Final Four.

March 1993 - Unranked Georgia beat No. 1 Tennessee, 73-72, in the second round of the SEC tournament in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Jan. 17, 1994 - Rutgers 87, Tennessee 77 at Piscataway, N.J. An ice storm beset the region. The Scarlet Knights, then under Theresa Grentz, were at the other extreme shooting a torrid 80 percent through much of the first half to make headlines.

Jan. 26, 2006 - Kentucky 66, Tennessee 63. - Wildcats coach Mickie DeMoss, a former longtime assistant to Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, gains some notoriety at the expense of her former boss.


Landers moves to second; Stringer passes Portland, Geno catches Sharp.

Penn State's season-long absence from the AP rankings and the recent departure of Texas and Texas Tech has created some shuffling in the pecking order of coaches' appearances in the poll.

Here's a copy of our tracking sheet that shows the current situation through Jan. 23.

Quick hits on AP poll performance for coaches thru week No. 11 of the 2005-06 poll
(This is 510th poll after week 11).

Coaches With Three Ranked Teams (Records on pages through week 11, 1/23/06)

Lin Dunn (Miami-2), (Mississippi-1), (Purdue-130), 133
Sharon Fanning (Kentucky-4), (Miss. St.-46), (Tenn.-Chattannoga-4), 54
Jim Foster (St. Joe-35), (Vanderbilt-164), Ohio St.-49), 248
Don Perrelli (Northwestern-52), (S. Conn.-20), (St. John’s-1), 73
Marianne Stanley (Old Dominion-141), (Southern Cal-24), (Stanford*-18), 183
Vivian Stringer (Cheyney-85), (Iowa-155), (Rutgers-97), 337
Debbie Yow (Florida-2), (Kentucky-21), (Oral Roberts-1), 24

Co-Coaches
Kittie Blakemore, Scott Harrelson – West Virginia 8
Sonja Hogg, Leon Barmore – Louisiana Tech 51
Jill Hutchison, Linda Fischer – Illinois St. 3
Jim Jarrett, Joyce Patterson – Georgia St. 1
Marianne Stanley, Amy Tucker – Stanford 18
Jim Bolla, Sheila Strike – UNLV 18

Coaches All Time Ranking Appearances

1. Pat Summitt, Tennessee – 496 (missed just 14 polls in entire AP history)
2. Andy Landers, Georgia – 388
3. Jody Conradt, Texas – 386
4. C. Vivian Stringer (3 schools – Cheyney, Iowa, Rutgers) – 337
5. Rene Portland (2 schools – St. Joseph, Penn St.) – 336
6. **-Leon Barmore, Louisiana Tech (51-shared with Sonja Hogg) – 325
7. Kay Yow, North Caro. St. – 322
8. Tara VanDerveer (2 schools – Ohio St., Stanford) – 304
9. Debbie Ryan, Virginia – 292
10. **-Joe Ciampi, Auburn – 290
11. **-Sue Gunter (2 schools – Stephen F. Austin, LSU) – 270
12. Joan Bonvicini (2 schools – Long Beach, Arizona) - 267
13. Marsha Sharp, Texas Tech – 264
13. Geno Auriemma , Connecticut – 264
15. Jim Foster (3 schools – St. Joseph’s, Vanderbilt, Ohio St.) – 248
16. **-Chris Weller, Maryland - 227
17. Theresa Grentz (2 schools – Rutgers, Illinois) – 225
18. **-Van Chancellor, Mississippi – 221
19. Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina – 214
20.. Gail Goestenkors, Duke – 203
21..**-Marianne Stanley (3 schools – Old Dominion, Southern Cal, Stanford*) – 183
22. **-Paul Sanderford (2 schools – W. Kentucky, Nebraska) – 182
23. **-Marian Washington, Kansas – 176
24. $$-Gary Blair, (2 schools – Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas) – 146
25. **-Ceal Barry, Colorado – 142
**-Not in college; $$-Active at Texas A&M

Active Coaches-All Time AP Ranking Appearances

1. Pat Summitt, Tennessee – 496 (missed just 14 polls in entire AP history)
2. Andy Landers, Georgia – 388
3. Jody Conradt, Texas – 386
4. C. Vivian Stringer (3 schools – Cheyney, Iowa, Rutgers) – 337
5. Rene Portland (2 schools – St. Joseph, Penn St.) – 336
6. Kay Yow, North Caro. St. – 322
7. Tara VanDerveer (2 schools – Ohio St., Stanford) – 304
8. Debbie Ryan, Virginia – 292
9. Joan Bonvicini (2 schools – Long Beach, Arizona) - 267
10. Marsha Sharp, Texas Tech – 264
10. Geno Auriemma , Connecticut – 264
12. Jim Foster (3 schools – St. Joseph’s, Vanderbilt, Ohio St.) – 248
13. Theresa Grentz (2 schools – Rutgers, Illinois) – 225
14. Sylvia Hatchell, North Carolina – 214
15. Gail Goestenkors, Duke – 203
16. $$-Gary Blair, (2 schools – Stephen F. Austin, Arkansas) – 146
17. Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame – 139
18.Wendy Larry, Old Dominion – 127
19. Kristy Curry, Purdue – 116
20. Carol Ross, (2 schools – Florida, Mississippi) - 112
21. )))-Chris Gobrecht (Washington) - 104
22. ---Jane Albright (N. Illinois, Wisconsin) _ 96
23. Bill Fennelly, (2 schools – Toledo, Iowa) – 95
23. Cathy Inglese (2 school - Boston College, Vermont) – 95
25. Sherri Coale, Oklahoma – 90
26. Joe McKeown, George Washington – 82
27. &&-Jim Bolla, UNLV* – 75
28. Melanie Balcomb (2 schools – Xavier, Vanderbilt) – 72
28. Doug Bruno, DePaul – 69
29. Pam Borton, Minnesota – 68
31. Debbie Patterson, Kansas St. – 67
32. Kim Mulkey-Robertson, Baylor – 66
33. Sharon Fanning (3 schools – Tenn.-Chattanooga, Kentucky, Miss. St.) – 54
34. Mark French, UC Santa Barbara – 54
35. @@-Cheryl Burnett, Missouri St., 51
36. Kathy Olivier, UCLA 48
37. Joanne P. McCallie, Michigan St. – 46
38. Harry Perretta, Villanova – 44
39. ##-Kurt Budke, Louisiana Tech. – 42
40. Elaine Elliott, Utah – 40
41. ++-Bonnie Henrickson, Virginia Tech – 36
41. Brenda Frese (2 schools, Minnesota, Maryland) – 36
43. Lisa Stockton, Tulane – 34
43. !!-Tom Collen, Colorado St. – 34
45. Pokey Chatman, LSU – 30
$$-Active at Texas A&M; &&-Active at Hawaii (Shared 18 with Sheila Strike); @@-Active at Michigan; ##-Active at Oklahoma St.; ++-Active at Kansas; !!-Active at Louisville; )))-Active at Yale; ---Active at Wichita St.

We'll be back with some observations before the weekend is over.

-- Mel