The Charleston men's basketball team jumped four spots in the Associated Press Top 25 to No. 18 and climbed to No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches Poll on Monday.

The AP ranking is the third consecutive poll with Charleston in the top 25 and back-to-back weeks the Cougars have been in the coaches poll. 

The No. 18 ranking from the AP is Charleston’s highest since being No. 16 in the final pre-tournament poll of the 1998-1999 season. All but seven voters marked down the Cougars on their ballots.

Charleston is 18-1 and 6-0 in the CAA. The Cougars have run the nation’s best winning streak to 17 games with victories last week at UNCW – which entered the week on a 13-game run of its own – and Elon. 

Mood.#OurCity ?? pic.twitter.com/KqgKJr7p9C

— Charleston Basketball (@CofCBasketball) January 16, 2023

The Cougars’ total wins (18), winning percentage (.947), and winning streak (17) lead the nation.

Charleston is 6-1 this year against last season’s NCAA Tournament field and 4-0 against defending conference champions. Charleston has defeated the CAA (Delaware), ACC (Virginia Tech), A10 (Richmond), and SoCon’s (Chattanooga) automatic qualifiers from 2022.