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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga closes 2024-25 season ranked No. 23 in Associated Press poll

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Ryan Nembhard (0) and forward Graham Ike (13) high-five during the first half of the first round of the NCAA Tournament against the Georgia Bulldogs on Thursday, Mar. 20, 2025, at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

Gonzaga moved up, down and occasionally outside of the Associated Press Top 25 poll at different points of the 2024-25 college basketball season.

The final ranking, No. 23, seemed about right for a Gonzaga team that opened the season with national title aspirations, fell out of the AP poll completely in late January, rediscovered its form in March and came within a few plays of upsetting top-seeded Houston in the NCAA Tournament.

Florida unanimously took over the No. 1 spot in the final AP poll, one day after storming back from a 12-point deficit to beat the Cougars in the national championship game in San Antonio.

Houston checked in at No. 2, followed by No. 3 Duke, No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Tennessee, No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 8 Texas Tech, No. 9 Maryland and No. 10 Michigan.

Of note to GU fans, West Coast Conference rival Saint Mary’s finished one spot lower than the Zags, at No. 24, after losing to Mark Few’s team in the conference tournament championship game, beating Vanderbilt in a first-round NCAA Tournament game and subsequently losing to Alabama in the Round of 32.

Former GU assistant Tommy Lloyd and Arizona moved up six spots to No. 15 after losing to Houston in the Big 12 title game and going on a run in the Big Dance that included wins over Akron and Oregon before a 100-93 loss to Duke in the Sweet 16.

With a strong returning core of veteran players, Gonzaga opened at No. 6 in the preseason AP poll and moved up to No. 3 after quality nonconference wins over Baylor, Arizona State and San Diego State to open the season.

The Zags lost ground in the national polls after a series of close nonconference losses to West Virginia, Kentucky, Connecticut and UCLA, then dropped out of the Top 25 on Jan. 20 following consecutive WCC losses to Oregon State and Santa Clara.

GU won 11 of its final 13 games before the NCAA Tournament, including the WCC Tournament title game against 19th-ranked Saint Mary’s, and re-entered the poll at No. 24 on March 17.

The Division I coaches who vote on USA Today’s Coaches Poll were slightly higher on Gonzaga at the end of the season, placing the Zags at No. 20 in Tuesday’s poll – a three-spot jump. Saint Mary’s wasn’t far behind, sitting at No. 22 in the Coaches Poll, while Lloyd and Arizona moved up seven spots to No. 13.

Gonzaga closed out the year at No. 8 in the NCAA’s NET rankings, which don’t refresh after the conference tournaments. Other analytics websites that did update after Monday’s title game included the Zags in the top 10. Gonzaga finished at No. 8 in both KenPom.com and BartTorvik.com, and No. 6 at EvanMiya.com.