Gonzaga back to top spot at KenPom ahead of Michigan game

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs remain red hot to start the 2025-26 college basketball season, picking up a pair of wins over No. 8 Alabama and Maryland to set up a championship matchup in the Players Era Festival against Michigan on Wednesday evening.

Gonzaga (7-0) has won every game this season by 10 or more points, and has defeated five different power conference opponents - including teams from the SEC (Oklahoma and Alabama), Big Ten (Maryland), Big East (Creighton) and Big 12 (Arizona State).

The sheer dominance of Gonzaga's wins, as well as extremely efficient scoring and the best defense coach Few has had in nearly a decade, resulted in the Zags once again reclaiming the top spot in the KenPom rankings.

Gonzaga vaulted ahead of Purdue and Duke, who are No. 2 and 3, respectively, while GU's opponent on Wednesday, Michigan, comes in at No. 4.

Houston, Iowa State, Florida, Arizona, Louisville, and Tennessee round out the current top ten.

Gonzaga is the only team in the sport inside the top five in both adjusted offensive and adjusted defensive efficiency, coming in at No. 4 in both. The only other team in the top ten in both categories is Duke (3 and 7), although Arizona is very close at No. 11 in each.

Nov 25, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Braeden Smith (3) reacts in the second half against Maryland Terrapins. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

There isn't much Gonzaga is struggling with this season. The Zags are top 20 in the country in effective field goal percentage (58.9%), offensive rebound rate (40.9%) and two point field goal percentage (62.3%), and while their three point rate of 34.8% is just 177th in the country, Gonzaga's performance on Tuesday against Maryland - where they shot 14-32 from three - is a promising sign the program will right the ship from beyond the arc.

Defensively, Gonzaga is holding opponents to an effective field goal rate of 41.3% (8th) and a three-point rate of 24.9% (15th), while forcing turnovers 22.2% of the time, the 30th-best mark in the country.

The improvement on defense has been crucial for coach Few's team. Graham Ike and Braden Huff are not strong rim protectors, so Few went out and added a bunch of length, experience, and versatility on the perimeter in Jalen Warley, Tyon Grant-Foster, and Mario Saint-Supery. Warley is playing a small-ball four role, often subbing in for either Ike or Huff, but defensively, he is regularly tasked with guarding the opposing ball-handler, and his ability to generate steals and push the pace in transition has been critical to Gonzaga's early-season success.

Nov 25, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Jalen Warley (8) attempts to drive past Maryland Terrapins guard Andre Mills (7). | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Grant-Foster and Saint-Supery are both excellent wing defenders as well, while backup point guard Braeden Smith is averaging 1.4 steals in just 16.9 minutes per game and returner Emmanuel Innocenti remains an excellent on-ball defender and screen navigator.

Gonzaga is currently No. 12 in the AP Poll, but should slide into the top ten thanks to the win over Alabama, and could easily find their way into the top five - or top three - if they secure a victory over Michigan on Wednesday night.

Gonzaga vs Michigan is slated to tip off at 6:30 PM PT and will be broadcast on TNT and is available on the HBO MAX streaming platform.

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