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The Zags squeaked back into the AP poll on Jan. 11, but a loss to BYU sent them right back out. Another loss to Saint Mary's took away all the accompanying votes as well. What is left is a painful reminder of what could have been.
The Oklahoma Sooners narrowly edged the North Carolina Tar Heels as the top team in the nation. What is most important for Gonzaga fans, however, is that ugly stain of Saint Mary's receiving 42 votes. The Gaels, barring a bad loss in WCC play, are likely to see time as a top 25 team well before the Zags will.
On the coaches poll side, it is a bit different. Gonzaga is still receiving votes, 17 of them in fact. That makes the Bulldogs the 30th best team according to that poll. So yeah, some people think we are great and other people really don't. It is starting to get a bit confusing.
AP Top 25 Poll
| Rank | Team | Record | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma Sooners (36) | 16-2 | 1592 |
| 2 | North Carolina Tar Heels (29) | 19-2 | 1586 |
| 3 | Iowa Hawkeyes | 16-3 | 1473 |
| 4 | Kansas Jayhawks | 16-3 | 1369 |
| 5 | Texas A&M Aggies | 17-2 | 1332 |
| 6 | Villanova Wildcats | 17-3 | 1261 |
| 7 | Xavier Musketeers | 17-2 | 1186 |
| 8 | Maryland Terrapins | 17-3 | 1111 |
| 9 | West Virginia Mountaineers | 16-3 | 1105 |
| 10 | Providence Friars | 17-3 | 1005 |
| 11 | Virginia Cavaliers | 15-4 | 903 |
| 12 | Michigan State Spartans | 17-4 | 869 |
| 13 | SMU Mustangs | 18-1 | 838 |
| 14 | Iowa State Cyclones | 15-4 | 792 |
| 15 | Miami-Florida Hurricanes | 15-3 | 753 |
| 16 | Louisville Cardinals | 16-3 | 719 |
| 17 | Baylor Bears | 15-4 | 594 |
| 18 | Arizona Wildcats | 16-4 | 502 |
| 19 | Indiana Hoosiers | 17-3 | 466 |
| 20 | Kentucky Wildcats | 15-5 | 403 |
| 21 | Purdue Boilermakers | 17-4 | 328 |
| 22 | Wichita State Shockers | 14-5 | 151 |
| 23 | Oregon Ducks | 16-4 | 149 |
| 24 | Duke Blue Devils | 15-5 | 145 |
| 25 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 14-5 | 136 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Dayton 77, South Carolina 74, St. Mary's 42, Pittsburgh 38, USC 27, Butler 26, Clemson 18, VCU 17, Valparaiso 9, Hawaii 9, Utah 5, Connecticut 5, UAB 4, Chattanooga 2, Navy 1, Colorado 1, Grand Canyon 1, Michigan 1 | |||
USA Today Coaches Poll
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | POINTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina (23) | 18-2 | 791 |
| 2 | Oklahoma (9) | 16-2 | 766 |
| 3 | Kansas | 16-3 | 680 |
| 4 | Iowa | 16-3 | 677 |
| 5 | Texas A&M | 17-2 | 650 |
| 6 | Villanova | 17-3 | 591 |
| 7 | Maryland | 17-3 | 581 |
| 8 | Xavier | 17-2 | 580 |
| 9 | West Virginia | 16-3 | 503 |
| 10 | Providence | 17-3 | 452 |
| 11 | Michigan St | 17-4 | 445 |
| 12 | Virginia | 15-4 | 430 |
| 13 | Miami-Florida | 15-3 | 412 |
| 14 | Louisville | 16-3 | 384 |
| 15 | Arizona | 16-4 | 341 |
| 16 | Iowa St. | 15-4 | 312 |
| 17 | Indiana | 17-3 | 290 |
| 18 | Baylor | 15-4 | 281 |
| 19 | Kentucky | 15-4 | 242 |
| 20 | Duke | 15-5 | 183 |
| 21 | Purdue | 17-4 | 150 |
| 22 | South Carolina | 17-2 | 137 |
| 23 | Pittsburgh | 16-3 | 118 |
| 24 | Oregon | 16-4 | 90 |
| 25 | Wichita St. | 14-5 | 60 |
| Others Receiving Votes: Dayton 49; Saint Mary's 31; Clemson 30; Notre Dame 20; Gonzaga 17; Butler 15; Southern California 14; Connecticut 11; California 10; Michigan 10; Washington 7; Valparaiso 6; Virginia Commonwealth 6; LSU 6; Arkansas-Little Rock 5; Alabama at Birmingham 4; Utah 4; Monmouth 3; Texas 3; St. Joseph?s 2; Oregon State 1. | |||