St. Joe's Hawks Number One!

The St. Joseph's University Hawks, the last remaining undefeated Division I college basketball team, is now on top of both the Associated Press and NCAA Coaches college basketball polls for the first time in the history of the small Philadelphia Catholic university. Back in the 1960s, the Hawks were consistently ranked a Top 10 team. They made their only Final Four appearance in 1961.

The number one ranking virtually assures St. Joe's (27-0) of a number one seed in the upcoming NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Even should the unexpected happen and the Hawks lose in the upcoming Atlantic Ten Conference Championship at the University of Dayton, no team could have fewer losses going into the NCAA Tournament than St. Joe's.

In the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship, the Hawks will take on the winner of the first round Xavier-St. Bonaventure game at noon on Thursday. (Saint Joseph's, Dayton, Temple, and George Washington each earned opening round byes to the Championship.)

Three more victories in the conference tournament would make the Hawks the first team since the University of Las Vegas in 1991 to enter the NCAA tournament unbeaten.

St. Joe's gained the number one spot when the prior number one, Stanford University, was defeated by the University of Washington Huskies on Saturday by the score of 75-62. The Hawks have made consistent progress climbing the ranks of the polls throughout the season, but appeared to be destined to the number two spot as Stanford held firmly onto the number one ranking - until their surprise loss on Saturday.

If the NCAA Tournament seeds go as many have predicted the Hawks may be destined to a meeting with Connecticut in the finals of the NCAA East Bracket.