Dayton Flyers move into top 10 of Associated Press top-25 poll

The Dayton Flyers moved from No 13 to No. 7 in the Associated Press poll on Monday, earning their highest ranking since they were No. 6 in December 1967. By any measurement, this is Dayton’s most impressive run in the poll in the last 60 years.

Dayton is the first Atlantic 10 Conference team to reach the top 10 since Saint Louis in 2014. It’s the highest-ranked A-10 team since Xavier reached No. 7 on Dec. 15, 2008.

The Flyers passed these teams in the poll: Duke, which dropped from No. 3 to No. 8; Oregon (No. 8 to No. 12); Butler (No. 5 to No. 13); West Virginia (No. 12 to No. 14); Kentucky (No. 10 to No. 15); and Auburn (No. 4 to No. 16).

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Dayton (16-2, 5-0), which has won seven games in a row, picked up two strong victories last week, beating Virginia Commonwealth 79-65 on Tuesday at UD Arena and Saint Louis 78-76 in overtime on Friday at Chaifetz Arena.

This is the first time since the 1957-58 season that Dayton has been ranked in eight straight weeks or in eight polls in one season. That 1957-58 team was ranked in the final eight polls of the season.

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Dayton entered the poll at No. 19 on Dec. 2, following its runner-up finish at the Maui Invitational, and then climbed to No. 14 on Dec. 9 and to No. 13 on Dec. 16.

The Flyers fell to No. 18 on Dec. 23 after a 78-76 overtime loss to Colorado at the United Center on Dec. 21. They dropped to No. 20 on Dec. 30 before climbing to No. 15 on Jan. 6 and to No. 13 last week.

Baylor moved past Gonzaga this week to become the seventh No. 1 team of the season. The only teams to beat Dayton are ranked: No. 3 Kansas and No. 23 Colorado.