Gonzaga No. 1 in AP poll for fourth consecutive week
Going back to the preseason poll, this is the eighth time this season that the Zags have been ranked No. 1 in the country.
Gonzaga stays atop the AP poll rankings in the week 18 poll as the top three of GU, Arizona and Baylor remain in place for another week. Gonzaga (24-3) received 52 votes this week to remain at No. 1, up from 46 last week, while Arizona (28-3) accrued six votes and Baylor (26-5) received the final three votes on the table.
Gonzaga didn’t play last week, the team’s most recent game being a road loss to No. 17 Saint Mary’s on Feb. 26. The Gaels crept up from being in 19th last week, and both the Gaels and the Zags await their West Coast Conference semifinal matchup on Monday which could potentially set both schools up for a top 25 showdown in the conference championship game on Tuesday.
The Auburn Tigers moved up one spot to No. 4 in the national rankings with two conference wins against Mississippi State and South Carolina last week. Meanwhile, the Duke Blue Devils fell from four to No. 7 after taking a loss on Saturday to North Carolina in head coach John Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium; The Tar Heels found their way inside the top 25 at No. 25 as a result.
Tennessee, coming off a win against No. 15 Arkansas on Saturday, sits in a dead tie with Purdue for No. 9 in the poll as both the Volunteers and the Boilermakers received 967 points from voters. The Volunteers are winners of nine of their last 10 games while Purdue has lost two of its last three and have fallen from the No. 4 position the Boilermakers were in two weeks ago.
To round out the top 10, Kentucky has moved up to No. 5, Kansas holds steady at No. 6 and Villanova has grown to No. 8.
Colorado State (24-4) found its way back in the top 25 rankings at No. 23 after winning the team’s last three regular season games to head into the Mountain West tournament with a 14-4 conference record.
Along with the WCC having two schools remain in the top 25 between GU and SMC, San Francisco received nine votes to be in the top 25 in the most recent poll but didn’t make it onto the list.
