Gonzaga drops out of AP Top 25, moves up in Coaches Poll

Looks like the Duke game had a delayed reaction with some of the voters.

In somewhat of a surprise to me, Gonzaga has been removed from the AP Top 25 and is now the and-one team at 26th in the country.  UAB and Northwestern both leapfrogged the Zags to get into the top 25 this week.  UAB's ranking is very warranted after recent wins over Cincinnati and Butler but it's odd to me that Northwestern would get in this week after only defeating Central Connecticut State.  Both of these teams have one loss which is obviously a big accomplishment but the timing seems weird for this to happen but like I said, that loss to Duke has had a lot of time to fester in the minds of the voters.

Florida State and Wisconsin, both previously unranked, also jumped the Bulldogs in the most recent version of the AP poll  This week, Florida State beat Tennessee-Martin and Wisconsin beat Milwaukee and Illinois-Chicago. 

The good news is that Gonzaga has a couple games this week to get back in the national picture.  A New Years Eve date with Oklahoma and another Saturday afternoon CBS game against Illinois will probably make or break Gonzaga's ranking this year unless they can roll through the WCC undefeated.

Like the rest of the nation, we are anxiously awaiting to see how Gonzaga dealt with the horrible loss to Duke and the long Christmas layover as they get back on the court this evening against Eastern Washington.

UPDATE: Gonzaga moves up two spots to #22 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.  I'd be more excited except that the Coaches Poll is riddled with oddities.  Florida being 26th is crazy as is Butler being ranked and UAB still being a ways away.