AP Top 25: Did Gonzaga move up after a pair of WCC wins?
Jan 13, 2025, 12:24 PM
A pair of 13-point victories in conference play helped the Gonzaga Bulldogs make a slight rise up the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.
Gonzaga Bulldogs beat WSU Cougars 88-75 in first meeting as WCC rivals
The Zags came in at No. 16 in Monday’s rankings, moving up two spots from the prior week.
Gonzaga (14-4 record, 5-0 West Coast Conference) continued its strong start and remained perfect in league play, knocking off San Diego 93-80 on Wednesday and the WSU Cougars 88-75 on Saturday. The Zags continue conference play with two of their tougher WCC foes this week as they host 13-5 Oregon State at 8 p.m. Thursday and travel to take on 12-6 Santa Clara at 6 p.m. Saturday.
• Auburn climbs to No. 1
Auburn climbed to No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s basketball poll for its second stint at the top in program history.
Bruce Pearl’s Tigers (15-1) claimed 60 of 62 first-place votes to rise one spot after previous No. 1 Tennessee suffered its first loss of the season, falling at Florida, to end a five-week reign at the top. Auburn has been No. 1 only once before in the AP Top 25, during a three-week stint in January and February of 2022, and is the third team to sit atop the poll this season.
Auburn’s only loss came at Duke in early December and the Tigers have won eight straight games, though there is no word on when star forward Johni Broome might be ready to play after suffering an ankle injury in Saturday’s win over South Carolina.
The Tigers’ rise made them the headliner in another SEC-heavy poll, with the league having nine teams in the AP Top 25 — including three of the top five and five of the top 10.
Iowa State rose one spot to No. 2, reaching its highest ranking in program history, followed by Duke, Alabama and Florida. The Blue Devils and Gators each claimed a first-place vote.
• Rising and falling
No. 12 Michigan State and No. 20 Michigan had the week’s biggest jumps, each rising four spots. Florida and No. 17 Purdue were next by climbing three positions.
No. 19 Illinois had the week’s biggest slide by falling six spots after a weekend home loss to Southern California.
• Welcome to the party
No. 23 Georgia, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Baylor were the week’s new additions. And for Georgia, it’s been a while.
Mike White’s Bulldogs (14-2) have their first AP Top 25 ranking since spending a week at No. 24 in January 2011. That lone appearance had stood as the program’s only time being ranked since the 2002-03 season, but the Bulldogs are coming off a week that featured wins against then-No. 6 Kentucky and then-No. 17 Oklahoma for the program’s first back-to-back victories against ranked opponents since the 2006-07 season.
Both the Badgers and Bears have spent multiple weeks in the poll this season.
• Conference watch
The SEC — which had 10 ranked teams on Dec. 23 and Dec. 30 — had nine ranked teams for the fifth time this season, including No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 15 Mississippi State and No. 21 Mississippi.
The Big Ten was next with six, followed by the Big 12 with four. The Big East had two, followed by the Atlantic Coast, West Coast, American Athletic and Mountain West conferences with one each.
The Associated Press contributed to this post.
Gonzaga Bulldogs’ Mark Few among first-time Basketball HOF nominees
