Gonzaga strengthens hold on top spot in AP basketball poll

Gonzaga’s strong week on the court resonated with computers, analytics and humans voting in college basketball polls.

The Bulldogs, who handled BYU 82-71 and San Francisco 100-61 last week, strengthened their hold on the top spot in the AP Top 25, collecting 59 first-place votes, four more than last Monday,

No. 2 Baylor, which hasn’t played since Feb. 2 because of COVID-19 concerns in its program, lost three first-place votes and trails the Zags by 54 points. The margin was 47 last week.

Gonzaga moved back into the top spot in the NET rankings, the NCAA’s sorting and seeding tool, after four consecutive Mondays at No. 2. Baylor dropped to second, followed by Michigan, Illinois, Houston, Virginia, Ohio State, Iowa, Alabama and Loyola Chicago.

The Zags are 7-0 in Quad 1 games. Ohio State is the only team with more Quad 1 wins (8-3). Baylor is 6-0. The Bears’ next scheduled game is Saturday vs. Oklahoma State.

The rest of the WCC in the NET: BYU 29, Saint Mary’s 69, San Francisco 99, Pepperdine 107, Loyola Marymount 112, Pacific 126, Santa Clara 136, San Diego 255 and Portland 327.

Gonzaga is scheduled to face Saint Mary’s on Thursday and San Diego on Saturday.

Both games are at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

The Zags moved up to No. 1 in KenPom’s metrics, switching places with Baylor.

Gonzaga and Baylor remained 1-2 in the USA Today poll. The Zags received 28 first-place votes from the coaches and the Bears had four, same as last week.

The top four in the AP rankings stayed the same with Michigan at No. 3 and Ohio State at No. 4. Illinois is fifth, followed by Houston, Virginia, Alabama, Oklahoma and Villanova.

Gonzaga has defeated No. 7 Virginia, No. 11 Iowa, No. 13 West Virginia and No. 23 Kansas, which returned to the top 25 after falling out last Monday. The Zags have been ranked in the AP poll for 91 straight weeks, the nation’s longest active streak.

BYU, which shares second place with Pepperdine at 6-3 in conference, received one point.

Gonzaga was the No. 1 overall seed by a “razor thin” margin over Baylor when the selection committee released its top 16 seeds Saturday, roughly a month from Selection Sunday.