Men's college basketball rankings: Gonzaga falls to No. 24 in AP Top 25 poll
Gonzaga men's basketball has entered unfamiliar territory to start the new calendar year.
Following a frustrating and rare home loss to San Diego State on Friday, the Bulldogs (9-4) dropped to No. 24 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday, the lowest ranking in program history since the 2015-16 season.
The fall from No. 13 to No. 24 is Gonzaga's farthest fall in the AP poll since early into the 2010-11 season, when the Zags went 25-10 and lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The 11-spot drop is also the largest of any team in this week's poll, which featured plenty of shakeup from the previous edition.
The top three held their respective positions — No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Houston — while UConn and Tennessee rounded out the top five. Arizona fell six spots to No. 10 following its 18-point defeat to Stanford on Sunday, opening the door for Kentucky Marquette and North Carolina to climb ahead of the Wildcats.
BYU climbed to No. 12 heading into its first Big 12 conference schedule on Saturday. The Cougars (12-1) are fifth in the country averaging 90.4 points and 12th in points allowed. Ranked third in KenPom and No. 2 in the NET, Mark Pope's program has certainly exceeded its preseason expectations of finishing near the bottom of the Big 12 standings.
Elsewhere, Florida Atlantic dropped 10 spots after it was upset by Florida Gulf Coast on Saturday, which added to an already interesting resume put together in nonconference play. The Owls have wins over Texas A&M and Arizona notably, followed by losses to Bryant and the Eagles most recently.
No. 15 Memphis was the biggest risers over the last week, jumping four spots, while No. 7 Marquette leaped three spots with a win over then-No. 22 Creighton.
As for Gonzaga, the 2023-24 campaign has been a season of firsts — mostly for the wrong reasons — as the Zags prepare to enter West Coast Conference play on Thursday against Pepperdine. Friday's loss to the Aztecs marked the most nonconference losses suffered before league play since the 2010-11 season. They sit 28th in KenPom's rankings, the lowest since early in the 2016-17 campaign — the program went to its first national championship game months later after climbing to No. 1 in the country, though the similarities between that 37-2 squad and this season's team end there.
Here's the complete AP poll.
1. Purdue (12-1)
2. Kansas (12-1)
3. Houston (13-0)
4. UConn (11-2)
5. Tennessee (9-3)
6. Kentucky (10-2)
7. Marquette (11-3)
8. North Carolina (9-3)
9. Illinois (10-2)
10. Arizona (10-3)
11. Oklahoma (12-1)
12. BYU (12-1)
13. Colorado State (12-1)
14. Duke (9-3)
15. Memphis (11-2)
16. Clemson (11-1)
17. Florida Atlantic (10-3)
18. Baylor (10-2)
19. James (13-0)
20. Texas (10-2)
21. Wisconsin (9-3)
22. Ole Miss (13-0)
23. Providence (11-2)
24. Gonzaga (9-4)
25. Auburn (10-2)
