AP Top 25: Where Gonzaga sits after opening WCC play

The Gonzaga Bulldogs opened West Coast Conference play last week, and the early results helped them inch just a little up in the latest Associated Press men’s basketball poll.

The Zags checked in at No. 18 in Monday’s top 25 rankings, a one-spot jump from the previous week.

See this week’s AP top 25 men’s basketball poll

Gonzaga is currently 12-4 overall and 3-0 in WCC play after a perfect start in their first three conference games of the season last week. The Zags beat Pepperdine 89-82 last Monday, took down Portland 81-50 on Thursday, and kept rolling with a 96-68 victory over Loyola Marymount on Saturday.

It was a hectic week of travel for the Bulldogs, who began the week in Southern California for the Pepperdine game, came home to meet Portland in Spokane, then went back to the Los Angeles area to take on LMU.

Gonzaga will host San Diego (4-12 overall) at 6 p.m. Wednesday, then welcome the WSU Cougars to campus on Saturday for the first meeting between the neighboring schools as WCC rivals. Washington State will compete in the WCC this season and next before returning to a revamped Pac-12 in 2026 that will include Gonzaga.

Tennessee tightened its grip on No. 1 in Monday’s poll following a pair of lopsided wins, including one over SEC rival Arkansas, that left the Volunteers as the only undefeated team in men’s Division I college basketball.

The Vols picked up four more first-place votes and had 45 of 60 from the national panel to remain atop the poll for the fifth straight week. Auburn earned the other 15 first-place nods and stayed at No. 2, while Iowa State, Duke and Alabama rounded out a top five that was unchanged following the first week of conference play for many leagues around the country.

• Rising and falling

Illinois rose nine spots to No. 13 following a 109-77 rout of then-No. 9 Oregon and its win in Seattle over the UW Huskies on Sunday.

Jakucionis’ layup helps Illinois squeak by UW Huskies

Cincinnati fell all the way out from No. 16 after losing to Kansas and Arizona. The Ducks dropped six spots and UCLA fell seven to No. 22 after the Bruins lost at Nebraska in their only game of the week.

• In and out

West Virginia’s appearance at No. 21 is only its second in the AP Top 25 since the final edition of the 2020-21 season. Michigan is ranked for the third time this season while Utah State is ranked for the first time with Calhoun on the sideline. Those three entered at the expense of the Bearcats, the Razorbacks and Baylor.

• On the radar

Pittsburgh was the first team outside the Top 25 after opening ACC play with wins over California and Stanford. Nebraska was on 21 ballots amid its six-game winning streak. St. Bonaventure appeared on five ballots after beating Fordham for its eighth straight win; the Bonnies, whose only loss is to Utah State, have spent just three weeks in the poll since the 1970-71 season.

• Conference watch

The SEC again led all leagues with nine ranked teams, including three of the top five and six of the top 10. The Big Ten was next with six teams in the poll, while the Big 12 had four and the Big East had two — both in the top 10. The ACC, West Coast, American Athletic and Mountain West each have one team in the poll.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.

WSU Cougars top San Francisco 91-82 behind LeJuan Watts’ double-double