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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga No. 19, Saint Mary’s No. 22 in USA Today preseason poll

Gonzaga coach Mark Few speaks to the crowd during Kraziness in the Kennel in October. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

Gonzaga will open the season ranked No. 19 in the USA Today preseason poll.

A multitude of national outlets put out preseason rankings and the Zags, coming off a 37-2 season that culminated in a loss to North Carolina in the NCAA championship game, have been ranked in some and unranked in others.

Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga’s WCC rival, is No. 22. The AP Top 25 hasn’t been released.

The Zags were No. 13 in the coaches’ preseason poll last year and the Gaels were No. 19, marking the first time two WCC teams were ranked entering the season.

Gonzaga will face at least one top 10 opponent, No. 6 Villanova on Dec. 5 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Zags could potentially face No. 7 Florida in the second round of the PK80 Invitational in Portland and possibly No. 1 Duke on the final day of the tournament. Creighton, which visits Gonzaga on Dec. 1, is receiving votes.

The Zags also could face Butler or Texas, two teams receiving votes, in the Portland tournament. GU will scrimmage against Texas A&M, which just missed cracking the top 25, on Oct. 28.

Defending national champion North Carolina is ranked No. 9 and 2017 Final Four qualifiers South Carolina (1) and Oregon (12) are in the receiving votes category.