Gonzaga Bulldogs, UCLA Bruins, Kansas Jayhawks Top AP Top 25 College Men’s Basketball Poll; Michigan Wolverines up to 4th place
Gonzaga, UCLA and Kansas hold the top three spots in the first Associated Press Top 25 rankings of the regular season while Michigan climbs two places to fourth.
Bulldogs received 55 votes in first place from a media panel of 61 people in the poll released Monday following the win over Texas. The No 2 Bruins had six votes in first place after beating Villanova and the Jayhawks in third after a win over Michigan State.
Villanova dropped one place to 5th. Purdue, Duke, Texas, defending national champions Baylor and Illinois made the top 10.
Gonzaga was the #1 driver in the AP Top 25 pre-season after season before heading into the national championship game. Zags returns key players from that team, including the pre-season Americans Drew Timme, and fill the holes in their list with highly skilled freshmen and transfers.
Gonzaga (2-0) is expected to beat Dixie State in the opener and then have an early claim match, jumping into then-No. 5 Texas early on the road to a convincing win Saturday night. Timme was the catalyst, finishing with a career-high 37 points.
UCLA faced its own early test Friday night when it held then-No. 4 Villanova. The Bruins were slow early without moving forward Cody Riley suffered a sprained left knee, but bounced back from a 10-point loss to win 86-77 at the noisy Pauley Pavilion.
Kansas (2-0) played Michigan State in a doubles match against Kentucky and Duke at Madison Square Garden to open the season. Jayhawks are sharp, win 87-74 behind Ochai Agbajiof career high 29 points. Agbaji, who had considered leaving Lawrence for the NBA, added 25 points in a failed win over Tarleton State.
“[I came back] for this. Be on this stage, in this moment,” Agbaji said.
CONFERENCE CALL
SECOND – 6 (Numbers 13, 14, 16, 17, 21, 24)
Big Ten – 5 (Numbers 4, 6, 10, 19, 20)
Big 12 – 3 (Numbers 3, 8, 9)
Pac-12 – 3 (Numbers 2, 12, 25)
ACC – 2 (No. 7, 18)
Big East – 2 (No. 5, 23)
American Athletics – 2 (No. 11, 15)
West Bank – 1 (No. 1)
Atlantic 10-1 (No. 22)
UP AND DOWN
With just one game week, there’s been no big move up or down the first poll of the regular season. Texas lost three places, so did 13 Kentucky after a 79-71 loss to 7 Duke, the team up two places. No other team in the poll lost or rose more than two places.
IN AND OUT
Florida entered the poll in 24th place after beating Elon and routing Florida State. Southern California ranks in 25th place after wins over Cal State Northridge and Temple.
Florida State dropped from 20th place after losing 16 points to Florida and beating Penn. Virginia’s 66-58 losses to the Navy knocked the Cavaliers out of 25th place.
