Gonzaga picks up three first-place votes, finishes No. 2 in USA Today rankings

Gonzaga finished the season in the same spot its occupied in nearly every USA Today college basketball poll over the last two months.

The Bulldogs (31-2) remained No. 2 behind Kansas in the final coaches poll released Monday. The final AP Top 25 will be released Wednesday.

Gonzaga pulled three first-place votes away from Kansas after winning the WCC Tournament title last week in Las Vegas. The Zags earned 760 points.

Kansas, which was a unanimous No. 1 last week, finished with 29 first-place votes and 795 points. Dayton was third, 19 points behind Gonzaga.

Baylor, Florida State, San Diego State, Kentucky, Duke, Villanova and Creighton rounded out the top 10. BYU finished No. 16. Saint Mary’s received four points.

Gonzaga went 2-1 against teams that finished in the top 25. The Zags outlasted No. 14 Oregon in overtime in the Bahamas and split two regular-season meetings with BYU.

Gonzaga spent five weeks at No. 1 in the poll before being replaced by Baylor on Jan. 20. The Zags were seventh in the preseason poll.

The Big Ten had six teams ranked, led by No. 11 Maryland and No. 12 Michigan State, the preseason No. 1.

The Zags climbed to the top of the NET rankings after defeating San Francisco and Saint Mary’s in the WCC Tournament. They replaced Kansas, which slipped to second.

The Jayhawks defeated Texas Tech in the regular-season finale on March 7. The Big 12 Tournament was canceled last Thursday, hours before the NCAA announced cancellation of the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments.

Dayton was third, followed by San Diego State and Baylor. BYU finished ninth, Oregon 12th and Saint Mary’s 31st.

San Francisco (83), Pacific (110), Pepperdine (131) and Santa Clara (145) finished inside the top 150.