Men's college basketball rankings: Gonzaga No. 11 in AP Top 25 poll (11/27/2023)

Bulldogs hold their preseason ranking after a 2-1 finish at the Maui Invitational

For the fourth consecutive week, Gonzaga men's basketball held its position just outside the top 10 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday.

The Bulldogs (4-1) remained at No. 11 after taking two of their three games at the Maui Invitational. A 10-point loss in the tournament's opening round to No. 1 Purdue, which claimed the top spot in the poll after taking home the Maui Invitational title, was followed by a convincing win over Syracuse and a narrow victory over UCLA. The Bruins received votes in the poll but sit outside the top 25. Anton Watson's career-high 32 points in the 69-65 win over UCLA capped off the tournament as one of the more impressive individual performances over the three-day event.

The four-week stretch at No. 11 is Gonzaga's longest run at a single position in the AP Top 25 poll since the program finished the 2021-22 season at No. 1 for five consecutive polls.

The Boilermakers (6-0) ascended to No. 1 with wins over three of the top 11 teams in the nation at the Maui Invitational — No. 11 Gonzaga, No. 10 Tennessee and No. 3 Marquette. That stretch of victories was enough to earn 60 of the 63 first-place votes from the national panel.

Purdue replaced Kansas at the top of the poll, as the Jayhawks (5-1) tumbled to No. 5 following their 14-point defeat at the hands of Marquette in Hawai'i. They rebounded to beat Tennessee in the third-place game the next day, though reigning national champion No. 4 UConn (6-0) leapfrogged the Jayhawks in the top five behind its impressive nonconference winning streak. No. 2 Arizona also jumped up one spot.

Houston, Duke, Miami, Baylor and Tennessee rounded out the poll's top 10. The Bears (6-0) ascended four spots after winning the NIT Season Tip-Off event, where they defeated Oregon State and Florida at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The Hurricanes (5-0) were also rewarded for winning their multi-team event, as they took down Georgia and Kansas State to claim the Bahama Hoops Championship tournament.

Behind the Zags, No. 13 Florida Atlantic continued its roller coaster of a ride in the polls. The Owls (5-1) tumbled to No. 19 in last week's poll with a bad home loss to Bryant, though they responded immensely with wins over Butler, No. 15 Texas and Virginia Tech at the ESPN Events tournament.

No. 15 Creighton took the biggest fall following its 21-point loss to No. 20 Colorado State in Las Vegas. The defeat sent the Bluejays (5-1) down seven spots.

Gonzaga's former West Coast Conference foe BYU entered the poll for the first time this season at No. 19. The Cougars (6-0) started the season with a home win over ranked San Diego State and followed with two wins over Arizona State and NC State to win the Las Vegas Showdown event. BYU was picked to finish 13th in its first season in the Big 12.

USC (4-2), which takes on Gonzaga in Las Vegas on Saturday, fell out of the top 25 with a narrow loss to undefeated No. 25 Oklahoma at the Rady Children's Invitational. That defeat, coupled with a 10-point loss at home to UC Irvine on Nov. 14, prevented the Trojans from receiving votes in the most recent poll.

As for other opponents on the Bulldogs' schedule, UConn and No. 12 Kentucky each climbed the rankings from their previous position, while San Diego State is on the outside looking in.

Here's the complete AP Top 25 poll for Nov. 27:

1. Purdue (6-0)

2. Arizona (6-0)

3. Marquette (5-1)

4. UConn (6-0)

5. Kansas (5-1)

6. Houston (7-0)

7. Duke (5-1)

8. Miami (FL) (5-0)

9. Baylor (6-0)

10. Tennessee (4-2)

11. Gonzaga (4-1)

12. Kentucky (5-1)

13. Florida Atlantic (5-1)

14. Texas A&M (6-1)

15. Creighton (5-1)

16. Texas (5-1)

17. North Carolina (5-1)

18. Villanova (6-1)

19. BYU (6-0)

20. Colorado State (6-0)

21. Mississippi State (6-0)

22. James Madison (6-0)

23. Alabama (5-1)

24. Illinois (5-1)

25. Oklahoma (6-0)

Anton Watson carries Gonzaga past UCLA in Maui Invitational