Gonzaga hangs on to fourth in AP college basketball poll

Gonzaga barely hung on to the fourth spot in the latest AP men’s college basketball poll.

The Zags (19-2) won their only game last week by 59 points over Santa Clara, but just one point separated Gonzaga from No. 5 Michigan. GU received 1,382 points to Michigan’s 1,381. The margin was 11 points last week.

The top six remained unchanged from a week ago. Tennessee, which sidestepped Vanderbilt’s upset bid and crushed West Virginia, stayed at No.1. The Volunteers earned 48 first-place votes and 1,575 points for the second straight week.

No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Virginia both picked up an additional first-place vote from pollsters who voted for Michigan State a week ago. The Spartans lost to Purdue but remained No. 6. Kentucky defeated two ranked teams to move up to seventh, followed by Nevada, North Carolina and Marquette.

No Pac-12 teams made the top 25, but Washington is getting closer. The conference-leading Huskies earned 75 points, third among teams receiving votes.

San Francisco, which received two points last week, dropped out of the “receiving votes” category following a loss at San Diego.

The new NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) rankings, one of the criteria for selecting and seeding NCAA Tournament teams, are similar to the AP’s top six but with a different order.

Gonzaga is No. 2, behind top-rated Virginia. Duke is third, followed by Michigan, Tennessee and Michigan State. Houston, Kentucky, North Carolina and Virginia Tech complete the top 10.

The USA Today rankings mirror the AP poll at the top with Tennessee, Duke, Virginia and Gonzaga. Michigan State dropped three spots to No. 8. The Spartans were replaced at No. 5 by Big Ten rival Michigan. Gonzaga is 22 points ahead of Michigan and trails Virginia by 32 points.