No area teams currently rank in the AP poll, and Pitt fans surely won't expect to see their team in the rankings anytime soon. But West Virginia appears to be on the cusp of entering the college basketball rankings. The Mountaineers have received 96 votes in the current version of the poll, placing them one spot outside the top 25. WVU has won five of its last six games, including its last three, which came against Rutgers, Marshall and Cincinnati. They face St. John's on Wednesday before a big matchup against Syracuse on Saturday on the road.

The Big East is also represented by Syracuse (which drops to No. 3 after its loss to Notre Dame), Georgetown (No. 9), Marquette (No. 17) and UConn (No. 24).

Rank / Team / Record / Votes / Previous

1 Kentucky (61) 19-1 1620 2
2 Missouri (2) 18-1 1532 5
3 Syracuse (2) 20-1 1506 1
4 Ohio State 17-3 1411 6
5 Kansas 16-3 1383 7
6 Baylor 17-2 1234 3
7 North Carolina 16-3 1232 8
8 Duke 16-3 1176 4
9 Georgetown 16-3 1045 10
10 Michigan State 16-4 1009 9
11 Murray State 20-0 925 12
12 UNLV 18-3 886 14
13 San Diego State 17-2 832 16
14 Florida 15-4 709 17
15 Creighton 18-2 682 19
16 Indiana 16-4 609 11
17 Marquette 16-4 517 21
18 Mississippi State 16-4 422 18
19 Virginia 15-3 414 15
20 Michigan 15-5 396 20
21 Saint Mary's 19-2 345 24
22 Kansas State 14-4 252 25
23 Florida State 13-6 244 38
24 Connecticut 14-5 203 13
25 Wisconsin 16-5 182 27

For more on West Virginia basketball, check out the Smoking Musket.