Gonzaga moves up two spots to No. 16 in AP poll

Gonzaga continues to gain ground in the weekly Associated Press Top 25 with its unbeaten start to West Coast Conference play.

Two days after an 88-75 victory over rival Washington State improved Gonzaga to 14-4 overall and 5-0 in conference games, the Bulldogs moved up two spots to No. 16 in Monday’s AP poll.

It’s been more challenging for the Zags to maintain a top-10 standing in the NCAA NET rankings and analytical sites like KenPom.com since WCC play started on Dec. 30.

Gonzaga is back up to No. 10 in the NET rankings — an evaluation tool used for NCAA Tournament seeding — after a brief stint at No. 11 and the Bulldogs are down to No. 9 in the KenPom ratings after spending much of the season inside the top-five.

The top-10 of the AP poll underwent multiple changeups after previously unbeaten and top-ranked Tennessee lost on the road against Florida. Auburn became the nation’s new No. 1 team on Monday, followed by No. 2 Iowa State, No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Florida, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 7 Marquette, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 9 Kansas and No. 10 Houston.

Saint Mary’s, still unbeaten in the WCC and sharing first place with Gonzaga, received AP votes for the first time in five weeks. The Gaels are 12th among teams receiving votes and will have a chance to move into the rankings by their first meeting with the Zags on Feb. 1 in Moraga.

Former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd and Arizona dropped out of the AP rankings on Nov. 24, but the Wildcats, who’ve now won six straight games, are close to returning and now sit fourth among team’s receiving Top 25 votes.

Just two of GU’s nonconference opponents, No. 14 UConn and No. 25 Baylor, are still ranked in the poll after both West Virginia and UCLA dropped out on Monday. The Mountaineers are still receiving votes, but the Bruins didn’t collect any after losing their third consecutive Big Ten game.

Arizona State, which lost 88-80 at Gonzaga in November, is no longer receiving Top 25 votes after losing four of its last six games. Another nonconference opponent, San Diego State, is still receiving three votes after dropping its second game in Mountain West play.

Similar to the AP poll, Gonzaga also moved up two spots to No. 16 in Monday’s USA Today Coaches Poll.

Gonzaga is still top-10 at EvanMiya.com (No. 9), but the Bulldogs have slipped to No. 11 BartTorvik.com.

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