The Gonzaga Bulldogs are the new No. 1 team in the nation according to the latest AP Poll released on Monday, garnering 46 first-place votes in the process.
The path for rising started with an absolutely bonkers night of basketball on Jan. 24, where Villanova, Kansas and Kentucky (then No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4, respectively) all lost. Kansas defeated Kentucky on Saturday but it didn’t put enough wind in the sails to push the Jayhawks up.
And with that, the Gonzaga Bulldogs are the No. 1 team in the country for the first time since the 2012-13 season when the Zags cracked the glass ceiling on the final vote before the NCAA Tournament. Of course, we all remember what happened afterwards, when a Wichita State team downed the Zags in a flurry of threes in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
This year, it all feels different, but this week will also be a good test on if it will be different. It has been a turbulent time at the top of the AP poll, and Gonzaga faces a stiff test against BYU on the road on Thursday, followed up by Santa Clara at home on Saturday.
Here are the full rankings:
AP Poll - Jan. 30
Rank | Team | Points | PV Rank |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | Team | Points | PV Rank |
1 | Gonzaga (46) | 1,594 | 3 |
2 | Baylor (6) | 1,504 | 5 |
3 | Kansas (9) | 1,503 | 2 |
4 | Villanova (4) | 1,479 | 1 |
5 | Arizona | 1,387 | 7 |
6 | Louisville | 1,237 | 13 |
7 | West Virginia | 1,101 | 18 |
8 | Kentucky | 1,083 | 4 |
9 | Virginia | 1,061 | 12 |
10 | Wisconsin | 1,058 | 15 |
11 | UCLA | 993 | 8 |
12 | North Carolina | 965 | 9 |
13 | Oregon | 869 | 10 |
14 | Cincinnati | 756 | 19 |
15 | Florida State | 727 | 6 |
16 | Butler | 717 | 11 |
17 | Maryland | 518 | 22 |
18 | Saint Mary's | 409 | 21 |
19 | South Carolina | 384 | 23 |
20 | Notre Dame | 363 | 14 |
21 | Duke | 339 | 17 |
22 | Creighton | 307 | 16 |
23 | Purdue | 264 | 20 |
24 | Florida | 213 | 25 |
25 | Northwestern | 106 | - |