Gonzaga slips to No. 4 in AP poll

Published 1:30 am Monday, February 27, 2017

Associated Press

SPOKANE. — Top-ranked Gonzaga had an undefeated regular season in its sights, facing a 20-point underdog in the final game at The Kennel.

Instead of racing toward history, the Zags fell flat, losing 79-71 to BYU on Saturday night. The undefeated season is history. So is Gonzaga’s No. 1 ranking, possibly its No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, too.

Now the Zags face the same question every other previously undefeated team gets asked after its first loss: Will this help them in the long run?

“I don’t know,” Gonzaga senior center Przemek Karnowski said after his final home game. “We’ll have to see what happens.”

Gonzaga (29-1, 17-1) still won its fifth straight WCC title and will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament next week in Las Vegas.

But the Zags dropped from the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25to No. 4 on Monday and may get bypassed as the No. 1 seed in the West Regional, where they were in the selection committee’s preliminary rankings.

And with the loss, the usual chorus of Gonzaga-is-overrated has already begun. The Zags have wins over Arizona, Florida, Iowa State, Tennessee and Saint Mary’s twice, so it kind of falls flat, but then they’re used to it by now.

“To be 29-1 and be where we’re at?” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “We’d have taken that if offered every time.”

Gonzaga opens the WCC Tournament in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Las Vegas.