SIU finds Top 25 in national polls

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Southern Illinois is ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 1976 and just the second time ever.

The Salukis were No. 23 in The Associated Press men's college basketball poll and No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN poll, released Monday. It's their first men's basketball ranking in 28 years, when Southern Illinois was ranked for two weeks.

Southern Illinois (18-2, 12-0 Missouri Valley Conference) has won 10 straight under first-year coach Matt Painter, a former assistant who took over the program when Bruce Weber left for Illinois. The winning streak is the longest at the school in 37 years.

The polls can be found in Scoreboard on Page 2B.

-- AP