Auburn, Gonzaga remain 1-2 in AP poll, share first in USA Today rankings

Auburn and Gonzaga continued their winning ways last week and maintained the top two spots in the AP college basketball poll.

The big movement came just below the Tigers and Zags as No. 3 Arizona, No. 4 Baylor and No. 5 Kansas all dropped games last week.

Auburn, riding a 17-game winning streak, is No. 1 for the second straight week with 1,508 points, including 49 first-place votes from the media panel. Gonzaga (17-2) received the other 12 first-place votes and 1,475 points.

Auburn, which downed Missouri and Oklahoma, boosted its lead over the Zags from 29 to 33 points. The Tigers entertain Alabama, fresh from an upset win over Baylor, on Tuesday before visiting Georgia on Saturday.

Gonzaga visits San Diego on Thursday and BYU on Saturday. The Cougars, who lost to Santa Clara and Pacific last week, just missed making the top 25 last week, but received no votes this time around.

Saint Mary’s, one game behind Gonzaga in the WCC standings, had 32 points. The Gaels are tied with Boise State, coached by former Zags assistant Leon Rice, for 28th.

The Zags are 3-2 against ranked opponents and those five teams had strong showings last week. UCLA, which lost to GU 83-63 in Las Vegas, thumped Arizona 75-59 in a 3-0 week that propelled the Bruins up four spots to No. 3.

UCLA and Arizona, which slipped from third to seventh, square off Thursday in Tucson. Former GU assistant coach Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats are 17-2.

Duke, which edged the Zags 84-81 in Las Vegas, handled Clemson and Louisville to hold down the No. 9 ranking. No. 14 Texas Tech, which lost 69-55 to GU in Phoenix, crushed Mississippi State by 26.

The Red Raiders entertain No. 23 Texas, which lost to the Zags 86-74 in Spokane, on Tuesday. Texas (16-5) hammered Texas Christian and edged No. 18 Tennessee.

Alabama, a 91-82 winner over Gonzaga in December, lost to Georgia but rebounded to knock off Baylor, which dropped from fourth to eighth. Kansas fell from fifth to 10th.

Meanwhile, Gonzaga and Auburn share the top spot in the USA Today rankings. It’s the first tie at the top since Kentucky and North Carolina shared No. 1 in the 2015-16 preseason poll. The Zags and Tigers both had 16 first-place votes and 784 points. GU held a seven-point edge last week.

Purdue is third, UCLA fourth and Arizona fifth. Saint Mary’s is third in the receiving votes category.

The WCC continues to have four teams – GU, BYU, Saint Mary’s and San Francisco – projected to make the NCAA Tournament, according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi’s latest bracketology. GU is the second overall seed behind Auburn. San Francisco is among the last four byes.

Gonzaga is No. 1 in the NET rankings, followed by Houston, Arizona, Baylor, Villanova and Auburn.

Saint Mary’s is 24, BYU 33, San Francisco 40, Santa Clara 80 and San Diego 161. Boise State is 32, and Washington State improved 14 spots to No. 38 after routing Colorado on Sunday.