Men's college basketball rankings: Gonzaga moves up to No. 6 in AP Top 25 poll (1/16/23)
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As the dust settles on a wild weekend of college basketball, Gonzaga found itself ranked No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released Monday.
The Zags (16-3, 5-0 WCC) moved up two spots from last week’s rankings after a narrow victory on the road against BYU followed by a convincing rout of Portland on Saturday. Julian Strawther saved the day against the Cougars with a go-ahead 3-pointer in the game’s final moments, while Malachi Smith’s eight triples almost helped set a program record versus the Pilots.
Riding an 11-game win streak, Gonzaga is back in action on Thursday when LMU comes to town.
There was plenty of shakeup in the rankings as eight top-25 teams lost to unranked opponents on Saturday alone.
While the top four remains the same, UCLA, Gonzaga, Texas and Xavier leapfrogged No. 9 Tennessee following its seven-point defeat at home to Kentucky, as the Wildcats picked up their first Quad 1 win of the season against a conference rival.
A wire-to-wire loss to Oregon dropped Arizona out of the top 10 for the first time in nine weeks, making that two losses in the last three games for Tommy Lloyd’s squad, which started the season with a 14-1 record.
The biggest drop-off though was No. 15 UConn, which fell nine spots by virtue of defeats to No. 20 Marquette and St. John’s at home. The Huskies are now fifth in the Big East standings as they’ve dropped four of their last five games since starting the season undefeated.
No. 19 Clemson’s victory over Duke knocked the Blue Devils out of the top-25 poll for the first time this season, while Florida Atlantic entered the rankings at No. 23.
Saint Mary’s, while ranked ahead of Gonzaga in the NET Rankings, did not crack the AP Poll after receiving 106 votes. The Gaels (16-4, 5-0 WCC) defeated LMU and San Francisco last week in convincing fashion.
Here’s the full AP Top 25 poll for Week 11 of the 2022-23 season:
AP TOP 25 POLL
1. Houston 1,460 (34)
2. Kansas 1,446 (23)
3. Purdue 1,382 (3)
4. Alabama 1,347
5. UCLA 1,237
6. Gonzaga 1,178
7. Texas 1,122
8. Xavier 1,047
9. Tennessee 1,019
10. Virginia 926
11. Arizona 838
12. Iowa State 795
13. Kansas State 771
14. TCU 753
15. UConn 668
16. Auburn 553
17. Miami (FL) 487
18. Charleston 351
19. Clemson 339
20. Marquette 306
21. Baylor 267
22. Providence 262
23. Rutgers 131
24. Florida Atlantic 126
25. Arkansas 115
Others receiving votes: North Carolina State 111, Saint Mary's 106, Arizona State 79, New Mexico 67, Illinois 61, San Diego State 44, Michigan State 29, Duke 24, Wisconsin 14, Creighton 9, Kent State 8, Boise State 6, Texas A&M 5, Ohio State 3, Missouri 3, VCU 2, Iowa 2, North Carolina 1
