Gonzaga moves up one spot to No. 17 in AP poll

Gonzaga climbed up one spot to No. 17 in the first AP college basketball poll of the regular season.

The Zags, who thumped Texas Southern 97-69 in their season opener, picked up 525 points compared to 500 in the preseason poll.

Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga’s WCC rival, moved up one spot to No. 21.

There was very little movement in the poll in general as ranked teams generally faced overmatched opponents to open the season. Duke remained No. 1, followed by Michigan State, Arizona and Kansas, the same top four as the preseason poll.

Villanova, which faces Gonzaga on Dec. 5 in New York City, moved up to No. 5 as Kentucky, after close wins over Utah Valley and Vermont, dropped from fifth to seventh. Florida, a potential Zag opponent in the second round of the PK80 Invitational in Portland, stayed at No. 8.

Texas A&M blasted West Virginia 88-65 in the only meeting of ranked teams. The win sent the Aggies up nine spots to No. 16. The loss dropped the Mountaineers 13 spots to No. 24. West Virginia was the only Top 25 team to lose.

The schedule gets a little more interesting this week, but not much. There are just two games involving ranked teams but it’s quite a pair. No. 1 Duke faces No. 2 Michigan State and No. 4 Kansas meets No. 7 Kentucky on Tuesday at the Champions Classic doubleheader in Chicago.

The Pac-12 is represented by No. 3 Arizona, No. 10 USC and No. 23 UCLA.