A year ago after Gonzaga’s road loss at Santa Clara, the Zags dropped out of the AP college basketball top 25 for the first time in 143 polls, dating back to the outset of the 2016-17 season.
Following two West Coast Conference losses last week, including Thursday’s overtime loss to Oregon State and Saturday’s 103-99 home setback to Santa Clara, the Zags tumbled out of the AP poll again.
The Zags received 34 points, fourth most of teams outside the top 25, in the latest poll. They were No. 16 a week ago. Saint Mary’s (16-3, 6-0 WCC) received 12 points. Arizona, coached by former GU assistant Tommy Lloyd, had 21 points.
The Gaels hold a two-game edge in the loss column over San Francisco (16-5, 6-2), Santa Clara (13-7, 5-2), Washington State (15-5, 5-2) and Gonzaga (14-6, 5-2). Oregon State (14-6, 4-3) is in sixth place.
Gonzaga climbed as high as No. 3 after a 5-0 start, but the Zags are 9-6 since mid-November. GU returned to the rankings last season in late February and finished at No. 15. The Zags have appeared in 159 of the last 166 AP polls.
Auburn was the unanimous pick at No. 1 after two wins over ranked SEC foes. The Tigers picked up all 62 first-place votes. Nineteen ranked teams, including seven in the top 10, lost at least once last week.
Duke is No. 2, followed by Iowa State, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, Houston, Michigan State, Kentucky and Marquette. Kentucky edged Gonzaga 90-89 in overtime in Seattle.
The Zags also lost to No. 19 UConn (77-71 in New York City) and No. 23 West Virginia (86-78 in overtime in the Bahamas). GU has no victories over current top 25 squads — Baylor fell out of the rankings after being No. 25 last Monday — or any wins over teams in the receiving votes category — San Diego State went from four points to zero.
Gonzaga slid nine spots to No. 19 in the NET rankings from last Monday. GU is 2-5 in Quad 1 games, 2-1 in Quad 2 and 10-0 vs. Quad 3 and 4. The Zags’ Quad 1 wins over Baylor and San Diego State came in the first two weeks of the season. They’ve lost their last five Quad 1 games, including a 97-89 overtime loss to Oregon State. The Santa Clara loss was Gonzaga’s first in a Quad 2 game.
Saint Mary’s moved up to 27 in the NET. Oregon State is at 60, Santa Clara 62, San Francisco 68 and Washington State 79.
Portland, Gonzaga’s opponent Saturday, is No. 318, lowest among WCC teams. The Pilots (6-14, 1-6) are in a three-way tie for last with San Diego and Pacific.
Gonzaga dropped two spots on the seed line to No. 9 in Jerry Palm’s latest bracket projections for CBS Sports. Palm has the Zags facing No. 8 Oklahoma in Wichita in the West Region. Saint Mary’s is seeded ninth with a first-round matchup against No. 8 UCLA in Lexington.
Saint Mary’s is one spot ahead of GU in Palm’s team bracket index. Auburn, Duke, Iowa State and Alabama are the No. 1 seeds. Teamrankings.com has Gonzaga as an eight seed.
The Zags also dropped out of the USA Today coaches’ poll. Gonzaga and Louisville each received 43 points, behind No. 25 Texas Tech’s 53.
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