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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga moves up to No. 2 in Associated Press Top 25, Baylor remains unanimous No. 1

Gonzaga’s starters react from the bench against the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday in Spokane. Gonzaga won the game 117-83. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584
Gonzaga’s starters react from the bench against the Pepperdine Waves on Saturday in Spokane. Gonzaga won the game 117-83. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)

Gonzaga was the beneficiary of a couple major losses in college basketball this week, moving up two spots to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday morning.

The Bulldogs made the climb after Duke and Purdue, previously ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, lost games to Wisconsin and Miami.

Despite playing a few close games itself, Baylor remains unbeaten at 15-0 and was unanimously chosen as the country’s No. 1 team for the third consecutive week. Rounding out the top five were No. 3 UCLA, No. 4 Auburn and No. 5 USC.

The Bears and Trojans are the country’s only remaining unbeaten teams.

According to Jared Berson of ESPN, it’s the first time since 2007 the top two spots of the AP poll mirror the result of the previous season’s national title. In ’07, Florida and UCLA checked in at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, before the Gators went on to win a repeat national title.

The Pac-12 has only three teams ranked in the poll, but all of them are ranked in the top six. Former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd and Arizona (12-1) moved up two spots from No. 8 to No. 6.

Duke, one of two teams to hand the Zags a loss this season, fell to No. 8 after losing to unranked Miami. Purdue dropped to No. 7 with its loss to No. 23 Wisconsin.

No. 9 Kansas and No. 10 Michigan State rounded out the top 10.

The West Coast Conference still has two other teams in the Top 25 conversation with San Francisco and BYU both receiving votes. Gonzaga (12-2, 1-0) and BYU (14-3, 2-0) will meet Thursday at 8 p.m. (ESPN2) in Spokane in one of the biggest matchups of the 2022 WCC season.

Two other Gonzaga nonconference opponents held onto Top 25 spots with Alabama clinging to No. 24 even after a loss to unranked Missouri and Texas Tech jumping six spots to No. 19 after pulling an upset of Kansas.

Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology projections include the Zags as a second overall seed, with Baylor, Auburn and Arizona as other No. 1 seeds.

Lunardi still foresees a four-bid WCC with GU, BYU, USF and Saint Mary’s all snagging invitations to the NCAA Tournament.