Just about the only thing Gonzaga has left to accomplish under Mark Few is win a national championship.
The ’Zags scratched another first off the list Monday: They will open the season at No. 1.
Despite losing West Coast Conference player of the year Filip Petrusev, the Bulldogs received 28 first-place votes and 1,541 points from a 64-member national media panel. That was just enough to edge Baylor (24 first-place vote) by a single point for the top spot in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 heading toward the delayed Nov. 25 start of the season.
“It’s a great honor to be selected No. 1,” Few said. “We understand that it is more a reflection of what our program has accomplished over the years and hope to play up to that standard as we start our season.”
Here is the complete top 25:
RANK | SCHOOL | POINTS | PREVIOUS | RECORD |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Gonzaga (28) | 1,541 | 2 | 0-0 |
2 | Baylor (24) | 1,540 | 5 | 0-0 |
3 | Villanova (11) | 1,501 | 10 | 0-0 |
4 | Virginia (1) | 1,364 | 16 | 0-0 |
5 | Iowa | 1,273 | 25 | 0-0 |
6 | Kansas | 1,221 | 1 | 0-0 |
7 | Wisconsin | 1,150 | 17 | 0-0 |
8 | Illinois | 1,105 | 21 | 0-0 |
9 | Duke | 1,073 | 11 | 0-0 |
10 | Kentucky | 1,038 | 8 | 0-0 |
11 | Creighton | 922 | 7 | 0-0 |
12 | Tennessee | 919 | NR | 0-0 |
13 | Michigan State | 820 | 9 | 0-0 |
14 | Texas Tech | 790 | NR | 0-0 |
15 | West Virginia | 651 | 24 | 0-0 |
16 | North Carolina | 465 | NR | 0-0 |
17 | Houston | 438 | 22 | 0-0 |
18 | Arizona State | 402 | NR | 0-0 |
19 | Texas | 380 | NR | 0-0 |
20 | Oregon | 375 | 13 | 0-0 |
21 | Florida State | 351 | 4 | 0-0 |
22 | UCLA | 336 | NR | 0-0 |
23 | Ohio State | 270 | 19 | 0-0 |
24 | Rutgers | 190 | NR | 0-0 |
25 | Michigan | 160 | NR | 0-0 |
Story courtesy of NCAA.com