Gonzaga debuts at No. 6 in preseason AP Top 25 poll, will open against eighth-ranked Baylor team
A few weeks back, Gonzaga and Baylor finalized what many expected would be a top-10 college basketball matchup on the opening night of the 2024-25 season.
Monday’s reveal of the preseason Associated Press Top 25 confirmed that much, adding even more sizzle to the Nov. 4 matchup at Spokane Arena between the teams that met in the 2021 national championship.
Gonzaga received one first-place vote and debuted at No. 6 in the preseason poll while Baylor checked in two spots below at No. 8.
For Gonzaga, it signifies the 24th straight season the program has appeared in the AP poll and the 15th consecutive season the Bulldogs have appeared in the preseason poll. The only other college basketball programs to have accomplished the latter are Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky.
The Bulldogs and Bears were respectively ranked No. 1 and 2 in the country when they played for the national title in 2021 and Baylor was No. 6 while Gonzaga was ranked No. 14 when the teams faced off in a neutral-site, nonconference matchup during the 2022-23 season.
Kansas, which saw its 2023-24 season end with a blowout loss to Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, begins the season ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, followed by No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 UConn, No. 4 Houston and No. 5 Iowa State.
Gonzaga’s Dec. 14 matchup with UConn at Madison Square Garden guarantees at least one other game against a top-10 preseason team.
The Bulldogs could face up to four other teams ranked inside the Top 25 to begin the season, and will play a few others that barely missed out on a national ranking on Monday.
At the Battle 4 Bahamas, Gonzaga could face one of two teams – Indiana or Louisville – in a second-round game, after opening the event against West Virginia. The Cardinals received votes in Monday’s poll, while the Hoosiers are ranked No. 17.
In the title game, Gonzaga could meet up with former assistant Tommy Lloyd and Arizona, who will open the season ranked No. 10 coming off a trip to the Sweet 16.
Gonzaga will play No. 22 UCLA on Dec. 28 at the brand new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, roughly two weeks after facing No. 23 Kentucky at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Teams on Gonzaga’s nonconference schedule that landed in the receiving votes category include Arizona State, which will visit Spokane for the Nov. 10 home opener, and San Diego State, which is hosting the Bulldogs on Nov. 18 at Viejas Arena.
Longtime rival Saint Mary’s is also receiving votes in the poll after edging the Zags out for both the regular-season and tournament WCC championships last year.
The preseason USA Today Coaches Poll has not been released yet, but other ranking services are bullish on Gonzaga as a top-10 team entering the 2024-25 season.
That includes KenPom.com, which unveiled its full ranking of all 364 college basketball teams on Sunday night. Gonzaga checked in at No. 9 in the KenPom rankings, with the nation’s second-rated adjusted offense but an adjusted defensive rating that ranked No. 45 – the lowest for any team in Pomeroy’s Top 25.
BartTorvik.com, another popular analytics site, has Gonzaga ranked No. 8 to open the season with the top-rated adjusted offense and 35th-rated adjusted defense.
Late tip time for GU-Baylor
Gonzaga’s top 10 matchup against Baylor is expected to have a later tip time at the Spokane Arena. The teams will square off at approximately 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2 after the conclusion of the Tampa Bay-Kansas City game on Monday Night Football. The football game kicks off at 5:15 p.m.
Ticket information will be released at a later date. Baylor has won the last two after Gonzaga won the first five games in the series.