Gonzaga 23rd in coaches’ poll

Gonzaga is No. 23 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches’ preseason top 25 rankings released this morning. Here’s an article and a list of the top 25 . North Carolina is No. 1, followed by Kentucky and Ohio State.

GU will face No. 15 Xavier and No. 16 Arizona. Other GU foes in the receiving votes category: Michigan State (28th with 73 votes), Butler (31st with 25), Saint Mary’s 5, Notre Dame 1 and BYU 1 (thought Cougars would be on the cusp of top 25). Long Beach State, under the direction of ex-Zags coach Dan Monson, received 2 votes.

The Zags are picked to win the WCC, followed by BYU and Saint Mary’s, by Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Eisenberg .