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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga’s AP Top 25 slide continues as Bulldogs drop to No. 13 in rankings

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle (99) reacts after GU fell to the Connecticut Huskies during the second half of a college basketball game on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Connecticut Huskies won the game 77-71. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

After losing consecutive games for the first time since 2018-19, Gonzaga took another hit in the Associated Press Top 25 rankings, dropping five spots to No. 13 after Saturday’s 77-71 loss to Connecticut at Madison Square Garden.

It’s been a steady decline for Gonzaga in the weekly AP poll since the Bulldogs moved up to No. 3 in the country on Nov. 18, a handful of hours before they played San Diego State at Viejas Arena.

Gonzaga spent two weeks at No. 3 before dropping to No. 7 after going 2-1 at the Battle 4 Atlantis, then lost more ground in the rankings after coming up short against Kentucky at the Battle in Seattle and falling five more spots with Saturday’s result in New York City.

It’ll be roughly two weeks before the Zags play another marquee nonconference opponent that could boost their AP ranking. Gonzaga returns home for games against Nicholls State on Wednesday and Bucknell on Saturday before closing out the nonleague slate on Dec. 28 against UCLA at the Intuit Dome.

As of now, the fifth meeting in five years between the schools will pit a 13th-ranked Gonzaga team against an 18th-ranked UCLA team. The Bruins moved up six spots in Monday’s poll after rallying back from a double-digit deficit in the second half to beat former GU assistant Tommy Lloyd and Arizona at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.

Tennessee held the No. 1 ranking for a second straight week, followed by No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 Iowa State, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 5 Duke, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Florida, No. 8 Kansas, No. 9 Marquette and No. 10 Oregon.

Outside of Kentucky, UConn and UCLA, only one of GU’s other nonconference opponents – No. 23 San Diego State – is ranked in the Top 25. Four other nonleague foes – Baylor, West Virginia, Arizona State and Indiana – are still receiving Top 25 votes.

While AP voters dropped GU outside of the top 10 for the first time this season, the Zags haven’t been punished quite as much by other ratings systems in the wake of recent losses.

Gonzaga is still ranked No. 4 in the NCAA NET ratings that will be used as a tool to determine NCAA Tournament seeding three months from now. The Zags are one of just 14 teams in the country with five “Quad 1” games under their belt and should get a sixth opportunity when they go toe-to-toe with UCLA in 12 days.

Gonzaga also ranks No. 5 at both EvanMiya.com and BartTorvik.com, while the Bulldogs are No. 6 in Ken Pomeroy’s ratings.

Gonzaga slipped nine spots to No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches Poll released Monday morning.