Gonzaga’s third nonconference loss in December — and fourth this season — dropped the Bulldogs five more spots in the final Associated Press poll of 2024.
Coming off a narrow 65-62 loss to UCLA at Intuit Dome, Gonzaga slipped to No. 19 in Monday’s poll, which went live eight hours before the team’s West Coast Conference opener, an 89-82 win over Pepperdine at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif.
The Bruins capitalized on their third Quad 1 victory of the season, moving up seven spots to No. 15 in the week nine poll.
Tennessee retained the No. 1 ranking, followed by No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Iowa State, No. 4 Duke, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Kansas, No. 8 Marquette, No. 9 Oregon and No. 10 Kentucky.
The Zags have been trending in the wrong direction in the weekly poll since spending a second straight week at No. 3 on Nov. 25. Gonzaga spent two more weeks inside the top 10 before dropping to No. 13 on Dec. 16 after losing to Connecticut at Madison Square Garden and then falling to No. 14 after a pair of home wins over Nicholls State and Bucknell.
With nonconference play over, Gonzaga might not have a chance to notch another Top 25 win before the NCAA Tournament. Saint Mary’s had been the only other WCC team receiving Top 25 votes, but the Gaels didn’t collect any on Monday after losing three of their final six nonleague games.
Three of the teams Gonzaga encountered during nonconference play — No. 10 Kentucky, No. 11 UConn and No. 15 UCLA — are still ranked inside the top-15, while one other, No. 25 Baylor, managed to hold on to its AP ranking.
West Virginia, San Diego State, Indiana and Arizona State — all teams Gonzaga faced on its nonleague schedule — are still receiving Top 25 votes.
Gonzaga was previously ranked No. 15 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and dropped four spots to No. 19 on Monday.
The Zags are still grading out well in the metrics, ranked No. 6 in both the NCAA NET and KenPom.com. Gonzaga is also No. 5 at BartTorvik.com and No. 6 at EvanMiya.com, two other popular analytics sites.
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