Gonzaga rises in AP Poll following big win over Santa Clara

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs nearly cracked the top five of the AP Poll in February, and likely would have had they not fallen on the road to the Portland Pilots on Feb. 7 - a quad 3 loss that dropped the Zags from No. 6 to No. 12 in last week's poll.

However, Gonzaga responded well following the loss, defeating Oregon State in Corvallis by 20, dismantling Washington State by 30, and then picking up a gritty, hard-fought win at Santa Clara, 94-86, to regain first place in the West Coast Conference.

The three wins not only put Gonzaga in the driver's seat of the WCC with four regular season games to go, but they also bolstered an already very strong resume in the eyes of the Selection Sunday committee - and got them some love from the AP voters as well.

The Zags moved up one spot in this week's poll, going from No. 12 back up to No. 11 and falling just a few votes short of No. 10 Illinois.

Michigan has moved into first place after destroying UCLA last week, while Houston and Duke each moved up to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. That's because Arizona fell from No. 1 to No. 4 following back-to-back losses for Tommy Lloyd's team, at Kansas and at home to Texas Tech.

UConn, Iowa State, Purdue, Kansas, Nebraska, and Illinois round out the top ten, with Florida, Texas Tech, Virginia, and Michigan State behind Gonzaga at No. 12-15.

A No. 11 ranking falls in line with where Gonzaga is valued by the computer models. KenPom has the Zags at No. 10 in the country, coming in at No. 19 in adjusted offensive efficiency and No. 13 in adjusted defensive efficiency - one of nine teams in college basketball to rank top 20 in both.

Bart Torvik is a tad lower on Gonzaga, slotting them No. 15, while EvanMiya has the Zags at No. 10 in line with KenPom.

In last week's AP Top 25, Gonzaga had just one win over a ranked team in No. 25 Kentucky, which replaced Alabama in the top 25. That flipped again this week, with Alabama sliding back into the rankings at No. 25 after handily beating Ole Miss and South Carolina last week, while Kentucky falls out after a tough nine-point road loss to Florida on Saturday.

The 'Cats received 15 total votes, good for 30th out of 33 teams that received votes. Saint Mary's (3 votes) was 32nd on the list, ahead of VCU. Santa Clara, which picked up a handful of votes the past couple of weeks, was not among those receiving votes after losing to Gonzaga on Saturday at the Leavey Center.

Gonzaga has a chance to move back into the top ten with a pair of victories this week, starting on Wednesday when the travel to the Bay Area to take on San Francisco at the Chase Center. The game will tip at 8:00 PM PT on ESPN2.

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