Men's college basketball rankings: Gonzaga falls to No. 18 in AP Top 25 poll (12/5/22)

After Friday's loss to Baylor, the Zags dropped to their lowest ranking in five seasons

The Gonzaga Bulldogs dropped to No. 18 in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll released on Monday, as other title-contenders also slid in a week full of upsets.

The Zags (5-3) dropped to their lowest ranking since the 2017-18 season following a narrow loss to No. 12 Baylor in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Friday. The Bears scored the final eight points of the ballgame, including two 3-pointers from Adam Flagler, to set Gonzaga back to its worst eight-game start in over a dozen seasons.

North Carolina was left out of the Top 25 following its fourth consecutive loss over the weekend, becoming just the sixth team since the 1961-62 season to go from No. 1 in the preseason polls to unranked.

The top four of this week’s poll features No. 1 Houston, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Virginia and No. 4 Purdue. The Cougars received 37 of 62 possible votes to remain atop the rankings in consecutive weeks, while the Longhorns received 14 first-place votes. The Cavaliers got three votes to the Boilermakers’ eight.

No. 5 Connecticut earned its highest ranking in over a decade. The Huskies (9-0) are joined by No. 11 Auburn, No. 13 Maryland and No. 23 Mississippi State as the remaining unbeaten teams in the poll.

The Maryland Terrapins had the biggest jump as they climbed nine spots after wins over Louisville and Illinois.

Losses to Texas and Nebraska resulted in the No. 21 Creighton Blue Jays tumbling 14 spots in the poll, the largest of any program this week. Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats fell to No. 10 after a loss to Utah.

The first quarter of the season has been anything but a breeze for Gonzaga, which according to KenPom’s metrics, has the fourth most difficult nonconference schedule in the country. With half of its opponents ranked in the Top 25 through a month’s worth of play, this has certainly shaped up to be the toughest slate of games the program has ever put together.

Gonzaga is back in action Monday for the first home game in nearly a month against Kent State. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. PST.

Here’s the full AP Top 25 poll for Week 5 of the 2022-23 season:

AP TOP 25 POLL

1. Houston 1,502 (37)

2. Texas 1,473 (14)

3. Virginia 1,416 (3)

4. Purdue 1,411 (8)

5. UConn 1,295

6. Kansas 1,131

7. Tennessee 1,046

8. Alabama 1,029

9. Arkansas 1,021

10. Arizona 1,013

11. Auburn 853

12. Baylor 841

13. Maryland 811

14. Indiana 759

15. Duke 745

16. Kentucky 596

17. Illinois 554

18. Gonzaga 517

19. UCLA 479

20. Iowa State 376

21. Creighton 346

22. San Diego State 265

23. Mississippi State 187

24. TCU 113

25. Ohio State 81

Others receiving votes: Iowa 70, Charleston 54, Miami (FL) 29, Virginia Tech 27, Arizona State 20, Utah 16, Wisconsin 16, UNLV 14, Texas Tech 10, West Virginia 8, Marquette 7, Xavier 6, New Mexico 3, Memphis 3, Michigan State 3, Missouri 2, North Carolina 1, Kansas State 1