Since 1950 coaches from various conferences have cast their ballots for the NCAA basketball coaches poll which is sponsored by ESPN and USA Today(United Press International sponsored the poll until 1991). This year 31 coaches are partaking in the weekly Top 25 rankings. Interestingly for the 2008-2009 season only 6 coaches from the major conferences participated along with 10 mid-major coaches. Nearly half of the voters came from the smaller conferences as was the case the last two seasons. A 1st place vote nets 25 points while a 25th place vote nets 1 point.
The NCAA basketball coaches poll for the week of March 9 has five ACC teams, three Big 12 teams, 6 Big East teams, 3 Big Ten teams, three Pac-10 teams, one SEC team, and four mid-majors.
NCAA basketball coaches poll - week of March 9, 2009: