Gonzaga No. 2 in AP poll, No. 6 in NCAA’s initial NET rankings
The spotlight is on Gonzaga, even as the Zags await arguably the biggest home game in program history against North Carolina on Wednesday.
The Zags (11-1), on the strength of another road win over a ranked Pac-12 Conference and the general chaos that has been unfolding in college basketball since the start of the season, climbed to No. 2 in the AP poll released Monday.
Gonzaga had a shot at the top spot, but that went to Kansas, which became the fifth different team to reach No. 1, joining Michigan State, Kentucky, Duke and Louisville. It’s the first time in AP poll history with five different No. 1s before New Year’s Day. The AP poll debuted in Jan. 1949.
Kansas (9-1) snagged 47 of 65 first-place votes and 1,607 points from the media panel. The Zags received 15 first-place votes and 1,552 points.
The Jayhawks face two more challenges before entering Big 12 play. Kansas takes on No. 18 Villanova in Philadelphia on Saturday before visiting Stanford on Dec. 29. Stanford received three votes in the poll.
Louisville, last week’s No. 1, slipped to No. 3. Duke, Ohio State, Kentucky, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia and Baylor rounded out the top 10. The Zags defeated Oregon in overtime in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.
North Carolina’s run of 106 consecutive weeks in the poll came to an end. The Tar Heels (6-4) fell out of the rankings for the first time since Feb. 2014. They were first in the receiving votes category (26th overall) with 41 points. Saint Mary’s received 13 points and BYU picked up one vote.
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Gonzaga’s 84-80 win Saturday over Arizona dropped the Wildcats from 15th to 16th. Washington, which lost to Gonzaga 83-76 on Dec. 8, is No. 22.
The Zags were No. 9 two weeks ago and moved to No. 6 last week. Gonzaga has been ranked No. 1 four times in program history, including two separate times last season.
Gonzaga moved up to a No. 1 seed in ESPN’s latest bracketology. Joe Lunardi projected the Zags as the West’s top seed facing Sam Houston State in the opening round at the Spokane Arena.
The initial NCAA NET rankings also were released Monday. Just like their debut last year at this time, the reveal raised some eyebrows.
Ohio State is No. 1, followed by Kansas, San Diego State, Butler and Baylor. Gonzaga (11-1) came in at No. 6 with Auburn, Louisville, Stanford and Dayton rounding out the top 10.
The NCAA implemented NET rankings a year ago as one of the primary tools used by the selection committee to sort, select and seed potential NCAA Tournament teams. The new system replaced the antiquated RPI.
The NET rankings changed dramatically last year as the regular season played out.
Duke is No. 13 and Kentucky is No. 58. North Carolina is No. 95 after losing four of its last five games.
Arizona is No. 15, Oregon is No. 17 and Washington No. 35.
BYU is No. 42 and Saint Mary’s is No. 64. Texas A&M, which lost 79-49 to visiting Gonzaga last month, is No. 281, lowest of all power conference teams.
Gonzaga was fifth in the first NET rankings last season, which were released just three weeks into the season. Ohio State was No. 1 with Loyola Marymount at No. 12 and San Francisco at No. 25.