Men's college basketball rankings: Gonzaga continues plunge down AP Top 25 poll

The Bulldogs fell down five spots after suffering their third loss in the last five games

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Khalif Battle. / Photo by Erik Smith, Myk Crawford

Following its third loss of the month, the Gonzaga men's basketball team continues its descent down the Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The Bulldogs (9-4) checked in at No. 20 in the most recent media poll released Monday, down five spots from where they ranked prior to their top-25 matchup with UCLA at the Intuit Dome this last weekend. Despite rallying from down double-digits in the first half, the Zags couldn't convert when it mattered most down the stretch, as they fell 65-62 to the Bruins (11-2) in a highly competitive and physical battle from Inglewood, California.

UCLA, meanwhile, catapulted seven spots — the most of any top 25 team this week — to the No. 15 spot. Three other Gonzaga nonconference opponents are featured in the media poll: No. 10 Kentucky, No. 11 UConn and No. 25 Baylor. San Diego State, on the other hand, dropped out of the rankings following a 67-66 loss to Utah State.

The USA Today Coaches Poll dropped the Bulldogs down four spots to No. 19. Like their AP ranking, No. 19 is the lowest they've been ranked in the coaches poll this season.

While the Zags' trend in the human polls isn't what fans hope for this time of year, the predictive metric rankings and systems that are utilized by the NCAA Tournament selection committee suggest all is still fine in Spokane. Gonzaga checked in at No. 6 in the county in both the NET Rankings and KenPom.com following Saturday's loss to UCLA. At Barttorvik.com, Gonzaga is No. 5 overall and No. 6 without preseason bias factored in.

Aside from Gonzaga-UCLA, though, it was a rather quiet week in college basketball as far as the AP Top 25 was concerned. The top 13 teams were unchanged from last week's version, with another four outside the top 15 holding strong as well.

AP Top 25 poll (Week 9):

1. Tennessee (12-0)
2. Auburn (11-1)
3. Iowa State (10-1)
4. Duke (10-2)
5. Alabama (11-2)
6. Florida (13-0)
7. Kansas (9-2)
8. Marquette (11-2)
9. Oregon (12-1)
10. Kentucky (10-2)
11. UConn (10-3)
12. Oklahoma (13-0)
13. Texas A&M (11-2)
14. Houston (8-3)
15. UCLA (11-2)
16. Cincinnati (10-1)
17. Mississippi State (11-1)
18. Michigan State (10-2)
19. Gonzaga (9-4)
20. Purdue (9-4)
21. Memphis (10-3)
22. Illinois (9-3)
23. Arkansas (10-2)
24. Ole Miss (11-2)
25. Baylor (8-3)

Others receiving votes:

Maryland 133, Drake 100, St. John's 98, Dayton 90, Michigan 65, Utah St. 59, Georgia 48, Pittsburgh 35, West Virginia 30, San Diego St. 28, Ohio St. 19, Missouri 19, North Carolina 19, Arizona St 13, Indiana 11, Texas Tech 8, Clemson 8, Wisconsin 7, Penn St. 5, St. Bonaventure 2, Nebraska 1.

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