After a rivalry victory over the Saint Mary’s Gaels (19-4, 8-2 WCC) in Spokane, Washington, the Gonzaga Bulldogs (22-1, 10-0 WCC) stayed put at No. 6 in the Associated Press Poll.
That’s surprising given the fact that the 2-0 Illinois Fighting Illini jumped up four spots from No. 9 to No. 5, switching spots with the Nebraska Cornhuskers, who went winless at 0-2 during the previous week. That included a 78-69 loss at home to Illinois.
The Gaels are no longer receiving votes in the AP Poll, but the Santa
Clara Broncos (19-5, 10-1 WCC) are back with one vote. A three-bid West Coast Conference isn’t completely out of the picture. Next on the West Coast Conference slate for the Zags is a trip to the Portland Pilots’ Chiles Center on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. PT on EPSN+/KHQ.
With Selection Sunday now 40 days away and a win over coach Randy Bennett’s program under its belt, Gonzaga looks to be moving back up to the No. 2 seed line for the NCAA Tournament in the Portland region.
In the NET rankings, coach Mark Few’s unit moved one lower slot to No. 4. The Zags still remain 3-1 in Quad 1 opportunities, 5-0 in Quad 2.
As for KenPom, Gonzaga also continues to slide down to No. 11 with the No. 23-ranked offense and No. 8-ranked defense.
In Bart Torvik and EvanMiya, the Zags are outside the top-ten rankings completely.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
