AP Poll: Gonzaga Bulldogs drop out of top 10 after third loss

The Gonzaga Bulldogs have fallen out of the top 10 for the first time this season in the AP men’s basketball poll.

Gonzaga lost Saturday night to UConn 77-71 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was the Zags’ second straight loss to a ranked opponent and third this season as they fell to 7-3.

Gonzaga drops second straight, falls to UConn 77-71

The Zags, who had a collapse in the second half and lost in overtime to No. 4 Kentucky at Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena on Dec. 7, dropped five spots to No. 13 in Monday’s new rankings. Gonzaga’s highest ranking this season was a two-week stay at No. 3 in November.

UConn, the two-time defending champion, had been ranked as high as No. 2 earlier this season until three straight losses to unranked opponents at the Maui Invitational last month. The Huskies moved up seven spots to No. 11 on Monday after the win over the Bulldogs.

Gonzaga now has limited opportunities to make big jumps back up the poll. The Zags have one marquee non-conference game remaining on Saturday, Dec. 28 when they take on No. 18 UCLA in Inglewood, Calif., after which they will move on to West Coast Conference play. Gonzaga is the lone ranked team in the WCC.

Atop this week’s poll, Tennessee held onto No. 1 for the second consecutive week, though No. 2 Auburn closed the gap as the top five remained unchanged.

See this week’s full AP Top 25 poll

The Volunteers received 50 first-place votes from the national media panel after wins over Miami and Illinois pushed coach Rick Barnes’ program to 10-0 for only the fifth time in school history. Auburn picked up nine first-place votes from last week and had 12 total. Iowa State, Duke and Kentucky rounded out the top five.

Tennessee is among five unbeatens left in men’s Division I basketball and one of three from the Southeastern Conference, joining No. 7 Florida (10-0)and No. 14 Oklahoma (10-0). Drake (9-0) and Utah State (10-0) also enter this week undefeated.

“We know watching film there’s a lot of areas we have to get better with, more consistent,” Barnes said Monday. “It’s everybody. Coaches getting better, players getting better. When you’re in December, you have to be real. Look at film and realize we’ve done this or that, but we have a long way to go to be where we want to be.”

• Mid-major monitoring

Drake appeared on 11 ballots after an easy win over St. Ambrose kept first-year coach Ben McCollum’s club unbeaten. Utah State showed up on 10 ballots after blowing out South Florida to give the Aggies their best start in school history.

“I’ve said all along, this is a place you can win at a high level consistently, and we’ve shown that, right? Year after year,” Utah State coach Jarrod Calhoun said. “We never talk about making history. It was never talked about all week. … It’s about getting better each day. It’s about enjoying the process.”

• Rising and falling

UConn made the biggest jump this week, climbing seven spots to No. 11 after the win over Gonzaga. UCLA climbed six spots to No. 18 after beating Arizona for its eighth straight win, while Texas A&M moved up five spots to No. 12.

Michigan plummeted 10 places to No. 24 after blowing its halftime lead in an 89-87 loss to Arkansas in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Clemson fell nine spots to No. 25 while Gonzaga and Purdue each dropped five spots.

• In and out

Memphis spent a week at No. 16 earlier this year before a loss to Arkansas State. They returned while Dayton made its season debut at the expense of Wisconsin and Mississippi State, which received the most votes of those outside the Top 25.

• Conference watch

The SEC has eight teams in the Top 25 along with the first three outside the poll in Mississippi State, Arkansas and Missouri. The Big Ten has five, the Big 12 has four, and the ACC and Big East two apiece. Nine leagues had a ranked team.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.

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