Gonzaga doesn’t drop far enough in latest AP Poll

Jan 23, 2023 - 5:16 PM

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The Gonzaga Bulldogs dropped out eight spots to No. 14 in the latest AP Poll after possibly their worst week of play in this up and down season.

For much of conference play, despite being ranked as a top 10 team, the Zags hardly played like one. Albeit, all three previously games came on the road and the West Coast Conference is improved this season, the Zags essentially won games in varying stages of the final minute against San Francisco, Santa Clara, and BYU.

Ultimately, the old mantra of “if you play with fire you are going to get burned” came true this past week, and the Zags fell to the Loyola Marymount Lions at home. It was the Lions first win in Spokane in 30 years. For the Zags, it was a Quad 3 loss, a bad loss, just no other way to sugarcoat it.

With what would seemingly be a rebound game against a prime opponent—the Pacific Tigers, one of the worse teams in the conference—the Zags put forward the most putrid defensive effort of the season. They let the Pacific Tigers, a team whose offense is ranked No. 153, drop 90 points, tied for the second-most points against this season with Alabama.

For all of that, the voters in the country gave Gonzaga a nod in what can only be described as a testament to the historic power of this team. For those of us that have been watching Gonzaga over the past month, it is hard to argue they have played liked a top 25 team. The reality of the situation is that Gonzaga very easily could be 3-4 this conference season and not 6-1. Although a win is a win, WCC play has not really felt like that this year.

(A sincere congratulations to Saint Mary’s for finally cracking the top 25.)

Here is the full AP Poll for Week 12.