U.S. retains top spot in FIBA world rankings
The U.S. retained the No. 1 spot in the updated FIBA world men's rankings despite finishing seventh at this summer's World Cup - its lowest placing in a major tournament since NBA players were first allowed to participate in 1992.
FIBA takes into account the results from the past eight years, including Team USA's Olympic gold medals at the 2012 and 2016 Games and its most recent World Cup title in 2014.
The Americans have held the top ranking for the past nine years and should go into Tokyo 2020 with the No. 1 spot, pending the results of February's Continental Cup qualifiers.
Newly crowned world champions Spain remained at No. 2 while Australia jumped eight spots into third. The Boomers had never reached the semifinal of a World Cup before this summer but were coming off a final-four appearance at Rio 2016.
World Cup finalist Argentina and bronze medalist France rounded out the top five.
The top-10 is as follows:
| Rank | Country | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 786 |
| 2 | Spain | 731 |
| 3 | Australia | 673 |
| 4 | Argentina | 670 |
| 5 | France | 665 |
| 6 | Serbia | 661 |
| 7 | Greece | 656 |
| 8 | Lithuania | 643 |
| 9 | Russia | 606 |
| 10 | Czech Republic | 596 |