Gonzaga barely keeps streak alive, tumbles 11 spots to No. 24 in AP poll
Gonzaga’s streak of consecutive AP Top 25 appearances seemed to be in serious jeopardy after the Bulldogs lost Friday’s nonconference game against San Diego State at McCarthey Athletic Center.
Voters punished Gonzaga for their fourth loss before the New Year – something that hadn’t happened in Spokane since 2010-11 – but the Bulldogs managed to keep one of the most impressive college basketball streaks alive, checking in at No. 24 Monday to make their 142nd straight appearance in the AP Top 25.
The Zags still took a major tumble after an 84-74 loss to the Aztecs, dropping 11 spots – more than anyone else in the ninth edition of the AP poll – and falling outside the top 20 for the first time since the final week of the 2015-16 college basketball season.
The March 14, 2016, AP poll was also the last one that didn’t include Gonzaga. Since then, the Bulldogs have maintained the longest streak in the country, appearing in 142 consecutive polls. Houston is second at 73.
Of the 63 media members who vote in the AP poll on a weekly basis, 39 left the Zags off their ballot Monday .
Voters probably won’t give the Zags as much grace if they stumble again, particularly because their remaining schedule mostly consists of WCC teams ranked outside the top-100 in NCAA NET, KenPom and other metrics.
The Bulldogs should have three more opportunities to grab valuable “Quad 1” wins. The most important of those will fall on Feb. 10, when Gonzaga travels to Lexington to face No. 6 Kentucky. Road WCC games against San Francisco and Saint Mary’s currently project as Quad 1 opportunities for Gonzaga.
Kentucky was the first team left out of Monday’s top five, which included No. 1 Purdue, No. 2 Kansas, No. 3 Houston, No. 4 UConn and No. 5 Tennessee. Two of Gonzaga’s four losses came at neutral-site venues to Purdue (Maui Invitational) and UConn (Climate Pledge Arena).
San Diego State, the team that handed the Zags their second home loss in just 79 games, narrowly missed a chance to crack Monday’s poll. A total of 36 voters ranked the Aztecs, who came in first among teams receiving votes.
Former Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd and Arizona fell six spots, from No. 4 to No. 10, after a 100-82 road loss to Stanford that marked the Wildcats’ third loss in the last five games.
Gonzaga has dropped 11 spots in the NET rankings, from No. 45 to No. 56, since Friday’s loss to SDSU, and the Bulldogs figure to fall one or two seeding lines when updated bracketology projections are released. In the latest ESPN bracketology, Joe Lunardi penciled the Zags in as a No. 7 seed playing a first-round game against No. 10 Florida in Indianapolis.