Men's college basketball rankings: Gonzaga moves up to No. 6 in AP Top 25 poll (1/16/23)

The Zags (16-3, 5-0 WCC) moved up two spots in the most recent AP Top 25 Poll

As the dust settles on a wild weekend of college basketball, Gonzaga found itself ranked No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll released Monday.

The Zags (16-3, 5-0 WCC) moved up two spots from last week’s rankings after a narrow victory on the road against BYU followed by a convincing rout of Portland on Saturday. Julian Strawther saved the day against the Cougars with a go-ahead 3-pointer in the game’s final moments, while Malachi Smith’s eight triples almost helped set a program record versus the Pilots. 

Riding an 11-game win streak, Gonzaga is back in action on Thursday when LMU comes to town.

There was plenty of shakeup in the rankings as eight top-25 teams lost to unranked opponents on Saturday alone.

While the top four remains the same, UCLA, Gonzaga, Texas and Xavier leapfrogged No. 9 Tennessee following its seven-point defeat at home to Kentucky, as the Wildcats picked up their first Quad 1 win of the season against a conference rival.

A wire-to-wire loss to Oregon dropped Arizona out of the top 10 for the first time in nine weeks, making that two losses in the last three games for Tommy Lloyd’s squad, which started the season with a 14-1 record.

The biggest drop-off though was No. 15 UConn, which fell nine spots by virtue of defeats to No. 20 Marquette and St. John’s at home. The Huskies are now fifth in the Big East standings as they’ve dropped four of their last five games since starting the season undefeated.

No. 19 Clemson’s victory over Duke knocked the Blue Devils out of the top-25 poll for the first time this season, while Florida Atlantic entered the rankings at No. 23.

Saint Mary’s, while ranked ahead of Gonzaga in the NET Rankings, did not crack the AP Poll after receiving 106 votes. The Gaels (16-4, 5-0 WCC) defeated LMU and San Francisco last week in convincing fashion.

Here’s the full AP Top 25 poll for Week 11 of the 2022-23 season:

AP TOP 25 POLL

1. Houston 1,460 (34)

2. Kansas 1,446 (23)

3. Purdue 1,382 (3)

4. Alabama 1,347

5. UCLA 1,237

6. Gonzaga 1,178

7. Texas 1,122

8. Xavier 1,047

9. Tennessee 1,019

10. Virginia 926

11. Arizona 838

12. Iowa State 795

13. Kansas State 771

14. TCU 753

15. UConn 668

16. Auburn 553

17. Miami (FL) 487

18. Charleston 351

19. Clemson 339

20. Marquette 306

21. Baylor 267

22. Providence 262

23. Rutgers 131

24. Florida Atlantic 126

25. Arkansas 115

Others receiving votes: North Carolina State 111, Saint Mary's 106, Arizona State 79, New Mexico 67, Illinois 61, San Diego State 44, Michigan State 29, Duke 24, Wisconsin 14, Creighton 9, Kent State 8, Boise State 6, Texas A&M 5, Ohio State 3, Missouri 3, VCU 2, Iowa 2, North Carolina 1