The U.S. men’s basketball team dropped out of the No. 1 spot in FIBA’s world rankings for the first time since 2010.
Spain displaced the U.S. by a slim margin in the latest rankings update thanks in large part to its EuroBasket title in September.
“It’s not exactly a new title and it probably can’t be maintained for too long, but it’s something so unique, prestigious and historic that I feel tremendously proud of everyone who ... have contributed to it,” Spain coach Sergio Scariolo tweeted, according to an Associated Press translation.
FIBA rankings are calculated using all games played by 164 national teams in top official FIBA competitions and their qualifiers over an eight-year period. Added weight is given to more recent games, strength of opponent and strength of competition.
While the U.S. won its fourth consecutive Olympic title in Tokyo, it also lost in the quarterfinals of the 2019 World Cup (which Spain won) and placed third at the AmeriCup in September.
The U.S. did not have qualification for the 2023 World Cup or the 2024 Olympics at stake at the AmeriCup, a tournament for North and South American nations, and used mostly G League players and no NBA players.
Argentina was the last country other than the U.S. to be ranked No. 1, most recently in 2010. The Americans took the top spot back after winning the 2010 World Championship.
OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!
No es propiamente un nuevo titulo y probablemente no pueda mantenerse durante demasiado tiempo, pero es algo tan unico, prestigioso e historico que me siento tremendamente orgulloso de tod@s l@s que, desde la U12 a la Absoluta, han contribuido a ello. #LaFamilia pic.twitter.com/pYPrgimea5
— Sergio Scariolo (@sergioscariolo) November 18, 2022