Rewards standings before the tournament games and after them.

Commentary: Except for Kentucky, which Rewards placed at #16 in the pre-tournament rankings, the top 10 teams in both polls were somewhat rearranged in Rewards top 10 as well. Maryland's late season surge pushed them to #11 in the polls, but with their 10 losses, Rewards could only ranked them at #21. Maryland moved up to #19 in the rankings after the tournaments were completed, as did runner-up Arizona (from #9 to #5), and USC, who made the Elite Eight and ended up as #22 (from #32 in Rewards; the voters elevated them from #35 to #14 as well), and Gonzaga, with two wins in the NCAA's going from #37 to #22 in the final Rewards ranking as well as ending up as the #20 team in both polls (from the #29 position). Temple, another Elite Eight team that really played well in the second half of the season, but had 12 losses, moved up from #68 to #57 in the Rewards ranking, and was #40 in the AP, and #28 in the Coaches' poll before the NCAAs, and #16 afterwards. Tulsa, the NIT champion finished their season as the #28 team in the post-season Coaches' poll, and moved up to #55 in the Rewards ranking (from the 70th position).