Gonzaga Bulldogs rank No. 11 in Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll

Bulldogs start the college basketball season outside the top 10 for the first time since 2017-18

With three weeks until the 2023-24 college basketball season tips off, the Gonzaga men's basketball program will enter the new campaign at No. 11 in the first Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The Bulldogs received 830 total points from the voters with no first-place votes. It's the first time since the 2017-18 season that Mark Few's program won't be ranked inside the top 10 coming into opening night, as the Zags have been either No. 1 or 2 to start the last three seasons.

Gonzaga finished the 2022-23 season at No. 9 in the poll after falling to the eventual champion UConn Huskies in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. An eventful offseason saw Few land three impactful transfers in Steele Venters (Eastern Washington), Ryan Nembhard (Creighton) and Graham Ike (Wyoming). Nembhard, Ike and fifth-year senior Anton Watson were named to the preseason all-conference team.

The Zags also returned probable starter Nolan Hickman along with Ben Gregg and Braden Huff to bolster the frontcourt.

Kansas sat atop the AP's preseason poll with 46 first-place votes, followed by Duke, Purdue, Michigan State and Marquette to round out the top five. UConn came in at No. 6, with Houston, Creighton, Tennessee and Florida Atlantic also in the top 10.

Gonzaga is guaranteed to play at least five top-25 nonconference opponents, starting with No. 3 Purdue at the 2023 Maui Invitational. Over the course of the three-day tournament, the Zags could also face No. 5 Marquette, No. 9 Tennessee or No. 1 Kansas.

The Bulldogs also take on No. 6 UConn (Dec. 15), No. 16 Kentucky (Feb. 10), No. 17 San Diego State (Dec. 29) and No. 21 USC (Dec. 2).

Saint Mary's, which was picked as the favorite to win the West Coast Conference in the preseason coaches' poll, was ranked 23rd by the AP. The Gaels matched Gonzaga with three players on the All-WCC team — Aidan Mahaney, Alex Ducas and Mitchell Saxen. In total, coach Randy Bennett returned 12 players from last year's NCAA Tournament team while bringing in Mason Forbes (Harvard) and four-star point guard Jordan Ross.

Here's the full AP Top 25:

1. Kansas 1548 (46) 

2. Duke 1466 (11) 

3. Purdue 1436 (3)

4. Michigan State 1346 (1) 

5. Marquette 1283 (0)

6. UConn 1243 (2) 

7. Houston 1117 (0) 

8. Creighton 1099 (0)

9. Tennessee 1032 (0)

10. Florida Atlantic 1011 (0)

11. Gonzaga 830 (0)

12. Arizona 776 (0)

13. Miami (FL) 750 (0)

14. Arkansas 685 (0)

15. Texas A&M 597 (0)

16. Kentucky 530 (0)

17. San Diego State 529 (0)

18. Texas 493 (0)

19. North Carolina 474 (0)

20. Baylor 431 (0)

21. USC 427 (0)

22. Villanova 395 (0)

23. Saint Mary's 335 (0)

24. Alabama 163 (0)

25. Illinois 104 (0)

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:

Wisconsin 53, Colorado 49, UCLA 47, St. John's 47, Maryland 34, Virginia 27, Auburn 27, TCU 24, Mississippi St. 20, Kansas St 13, Xavier 8, Memphis 7, Missouri 6, Boise St. 4, Indiana 3, Florida 2, Coll of Charleston 2, New Mexico 1, Drake 1.

Point values in parentheses indicate the number of first place votes.