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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga moves up to No. 18 in AP college basketball poll

Gonzaga’s Graham Ike (13) smiles between plays during the Zags’ 96-68 win over Loyola Marymount on Saturday at Gersten Pavilion.  (TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVEW)

Gonzaga moved up in the latest AP college basketball poll, ending five straight weeks of dropping in the rankings.

The Zags (12-4) climbed one spot to No. 18 after opening West Coast Conference play with wins over Pepperdine (89-82), Portland (81-50) and Loyola Marymount (96-68). GU had dropped from No. 3 to No. 19 in the previous five polls.

Six Southeastern Conference teams are in the top 10 and nine occupy spots in the top 25. No. 1 Tennessee (14-0), with 13 double-digit victories, is the last unbeaten in Division I. Auburn is No. 2, Alabama No. 5, Kentucky No. 6, Florida No. 8 and Texas A&M No. 10.

Tennessee picked up 45 of 60 first-place votes from the media panel with Auburn receiving the other 15.

The Zags’ four losses are to ranked teams: No. 6 Kentucky, No. 9 UConn, No. 21 West Virginia and No. 22 UCLA. The Mountaineers, who beat Kansas and Oklahoma State last week, are ranked for the first time since December 2022. Kentucky moved up four spots after a 106-100 win over Florida.

GU no longer has a win over a top 25 foe with Baylor falling out of the rankings following a blowout loss to No. 3 Iowa State and San Diego State dropping out two weeks ago after a one-point loss to No. 25 Utah State. The Bears are fourth and Aztecs seventh in the receiving votes category. Indiana, which lost to the Zags 89-73 in the Bahamas, received six votes.

The Zags entertain San Diego (4-12, 1-2 WCC) on Wednesday before a big matchup against Washington State (13-3, 3-0) on Saturday at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Gonzaga, WSU and Saint Mary’s (13-3, 3-0) share first place in the conference. San Francisco (13-4, 3-1), Oregon State (12-4, 2-1) and Santa Clara (10-6, 2-1) are the only three one-loss teams.

Gonzaga stayed put at No. 6 in the NET rankings and KenPom from last Monday.

The Zags are also No. 18 in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

Gonzaga is projected as a three seed in the East but playing in Seattle on the opening weekend by CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm. WSU is a No. 10 seed in the Midwest and Saint Mary’s is an 11 seed facing No. 6 San Diego State in Palm’s projections.

The Zags are No. 3 seed in the West in On3.com’s latest bracket projection.