Gonzaga rises to No. 13 in AP college basketball poll

The question wasn’t if Gonzaga would move up in the Associated Press college basketball rankings after two convincing wins over power conference opponents last week.

It was a matter of how high the Bulldogs would climb.

The unbeaten Zags soared six spots – matching Louisville and Illinois for the biggest moves of the week – to reach No. 13 in the latest media poll released Monday.

The Zags pummeled then-No. 23 Creighton 90-63 and followed with a 77-65 road victory over Arizona State in Tempe. The Bluejays, picked third in the Big East Conference preseason poll, dropped into the receiving votes category with 12 points.

Gonzaga, 4-0 with an averaging winning margin of 27.2 points, was No. 21 in the preseason poll.

There probably won’t be much opportunity for movement with just one game on GU’s schedule this week – versus Southern Utah on Monday night at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Next week will be a different story when Gonzaga faces No. 11 Alabama to open a three-game run at the loaded Players Era Festival in Las Vegas.

Preseason No. 1 Purdue returned to the top spot, replacing Houston, following a road win over Alabama and a blowout victory over Akron. The Boilermakers received 44 first-place votes while Houston had 12.

UConn is No. 3 and former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona Wildcats moved up to No. 4 after defeating UCLA 69-65 at Intuit Dome. The Wildcats and Huskies clash Wednesday in Storrs, Connecticut. Both teams received two first-place votes.

Duke, Louisville, Michigan, Illinois, BYU and Florida rounded out the top 10.

Gonzaga’s upcoming non-conference schedule includes dates with No. 12 Kentucky (Dec. 5 in Nashville), No. 19 UCLA (Dec. 13 in Seattle) and Oregon (Dec. 21 in Portland). The Ducks are fourth in receiving votes, just outside the top 25.

Two-time defending West Coast Conference champion Saint Mary’s received eight points in the AP poll. The Gaels entertain Arkansas State and UC Merced this week.

Gonzaga is second in KenPom’s rankings after opening at No. 8 in the preseason. Duke is first, Houston third, Kentucky fourth and Purdue fifth. Arizona is 11th and Saint Mary’s is 24th.

The Zags are No. 4 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 9 in offensive efficiency.

Gonzaga jumped up seven spots to No. 12, between No. 11 Alabama and No. 13 Kentucky, is the USA Today coaches’ poll. Purdue remained No. 1, followed by Houston, UConn, Duke and Arizona.

Saint Mary’s received 27 points, third among teams in the receiving votes category.

Gonzaga was seeded fourth in ESPN’s latest bracketology, released last Tuesday. The Gaels are seeded 10th. The top four seeds are Houston, Purdue, Duke and UConn.