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Gonzaga rises to No. 12 in latest AP Poll

A chance to crack the top 10 by the end of the regular season.

NCAA Basketball: Gonzaga at Pepperdine Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

The Gonzaga Bulldogs rose two spots in the latest AP Poll to No. 12, with the Houston Cougars taking over the No. 1 spot from Alabama.

The Crimson Tide lost their hold on the top spot following a loss to the Tennessee Volunteers, a win that helped buoy the Vols own slide out of the top 10. Tennessee promptly followed up the big win with a floundering effort against the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Kansas Jayhawks continued to look strong, rising two spots to No. 3. UCLA held pat at No. 4, and the Purdue Boilermakers landed at No. 5, arguably a pretty generous ranking for a team that has lost three of its last five games.

There is still a legitimate chance the Zags can end the season as a top 10 ranked team, but doing so requires a win at home against Saint Mary’s, a feat that is quite a bit less than guaranteed.

Since defeating Gonzaga, however, the Gaels have also been in their own version of a conference funk. They lost on the road to LMU and ground out narrow wins against a bad San Diego team and a mediocre at best BYU squad—Toreros on the road, Cougars at home. Can Gonzaga’s home environment be the key to victory? We shall see.

Here is the full AP Poll for Week 16:

AP Poll - Week 16

rank team points previous
rank team points previous
1 Houston (48) 1,534 2
2 Alabama (7) 1,448 1
3 Kansas (7) 1,409 5
4 UCLA 1,363 4
5 Purdue 1,294 3
6 Virginia 1,228 7
7 Arizona 1,213 8
8 Texas 1,083 6
9 Baylor 1,013 9
10 Marquette 968 11
11 Tennessee 887 10
12 Gonzaga 856 13
13 Miami 833 15
14 Kansas State 666 12
15 Saint Mary's 650 17
16 Xavier 563 16
17 Indiana 539 14
18 UConn 440 20
19 Creighton 361 18
20 Providence 350 24
21 Northwestern 349 NR
22 San Diego State 336 21
23 Iowa State 309 19
24 TCU 162 22
25 Texas A&M 125 NR
Others receiving votes: North Carolina State 54, Pittsburgh 34, Maryland 14, Oral Roberts 14, Kentucky 12, Boise State 12, Arkansas 6, Florida Atlantic 6, Charleston 4, Missouri 3, Duke 3, Illinois 2, Kent State 2, Nevada 1, Oklahoma State 1