AP Men’s Hoops Top 25: See where WSU, Gonzaga landed
Feb 26, 2024, 11:18 AM | Updated: 11:26 am
WSU guard Myles Rice celebrates with teammate Isaiah Watts during a 2024 basketball game. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
(AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
The 509 is getting some shine in the latest men’s basketball top 25 rankings from The Associated Press, with both the WSU Cougars and Gonzaga Bulldogs making the new poll released Monday.
WSU (21-7) rose two spots to No. 19 in the rankings thanks to the Cougs’ 77-74 upset victory at then-No. 4 Arizona last Thursday. Wazzu’s 73-61 loss on Saturday at unranked Arizona State that snapped an eight-game win streak didn’t hurt too much, it turns out. Nor did the loss to the Cougars drastically hurt Arizona (21-6), which only fell two spots to No. 6.
Washington State returned to the AP top 25 last week for the first time since 2008 and appears primed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time in just as long next month.
At 12-5 in Pac-12 play, the Cougars enter the week just a half-game behind Arizona (12-4) for the conference lead.
As for the Zags (22-6), they are back in the rankings at No. 23 after a six-week absence, ending their first stretch outside of the poll since the 2015-16 season.
Click here for the full AP men’s basketball top 25 rankings
Gonzaga beat Santa Clara 94-81 on Saturday and Pacific 86-65 last Thursday.
The UW Huskies (15-13) received four poll points in the voting, as well.
The Zags have a huge week coming up with a trip to San Francisco (22-7) on Thursday, then a regular season finale at No. 17 Saint Mary’s (23-6) on Saturday against the WCC-leading Gaels.
WSU has three games left on its Pac-12 schedule, all at home: USC at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, UCLA at 4 p.m. Saturday, and the UW Huskies on Thursday, March 7. Radio coverage of each of those games will air on the Seattle Sports app.
In the women’s basketball top 25, Gonzaga (28-2) stood pat at No. 16 in Monday’s new rankings. Click here to see the full poll results.
