The Barton men’s basketball team is back in the Top 10 after slipping just outside that destination last week.
Barton moved up one spot to No. 10 in this week’s NJCAA Top 25 after winning a pair of Jayhawk Conference contests. Barton is now 22-3 on the season and winners of 11 of its last 12 games.
Wednesday’s game against Hutchinson will be a battle of Top 15 teams. Hutch, the defending NJCAA Champions, is ranked No. 14. The two teams will play at 7:30 at the Barton Gym.
“It’s always a great atmosphere when Hutch comes to town,” Coach Craig Fletchall said. “Throw in we are both ranked, they are the defending champs and it’s Pink Out Night and the building should be rockin’.”
Hutch, 21-4, is up two spots to No.14. Coffeyville, also 21-4 and winners of nine straight, is up two spots as well to No. 15. The Blue Dragons won the first meeting against the Cougars at the Sports Arena in December.
The Cougars lead the Jayhawk Conference with a 19-3 record. Hutch and Coffeyville are both one back at 18-4.
The rest of the conference has at least eight losses. Coffeyville will visit Barton for the Cougars last home game later this month.
Hutch and Coffeyville split their two meetings this season.
There was some movement in the top five this week as No. 1 Northwest Florida lost for first time. With that, Indian Hills (Iowa) takes over as the new No. 1 with Northwest Florida dropping to No. 2.
Indian Hills is the only unbeaten left with a record of 27-0. Northwest Florida is 25-1. Also falling from the ranks of the unbeaten was Vincennes (Ind) down two spots to No. 5 with a 24-1 record.
Florida Southwest is up one spot to No. 3 at 25-1. Odessa (Texas) is also up one spot to No. 4 with a 21-2 mark.
Kansas matched Florida and Texas as the only states with three ranked teams.