Start The Fire, Santa Clara Ranked No. 25

It was a typically quiet Monday on the Santa Clara campus. There were no bonfires, and most students were cramming for finals.

But it was far from a routine day at the 7,700-student Catholic university. The men’s basketball team was in the Top 25 for the first time in nearly a quarter-century.

Most of the Santa Clara players were too busy studying to celebrate their No. 25 ranking, just behind neighboring Stanford and just ahead of nearby California.

And most students, who set dorm furniture on fire when the Broncos beat defending national champion UCLA in the first round of the Maui Invitational two weeks ago, had little time for partying on Monday.

Even coach Dick Davey, who has never been associated with a ranked team in 19 years at Santa Clara, wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the national ranking.

“Because we’ve never been there before, I don’t know what it means or if it has any connotation at all,” he said, “… but I hope it helps recruiting.”

The Broncos (4-1), who will be in Spokane on Feb. 24 to play Gonzaga, were Neither Nash nor any of his teammates was born when the Broncos last were ranked.last ranked in December 1972. They were No. 20 - the last spot in what was then the Top 20 - after a 97-92 win over No. 2 Providence.