John Stockton, Dan Dickau, Blake Stepp, Ronny Turiaf, Adam Morrison; all Gonzaga greats that never felt the pleasure of a No. 1 ranking. You would think after 14 NCAA tournaments in a row, someone would.
Now, finally, Gonzaga can bask in the glow of the coveted No. 1 ranking for the first time.
Here is the story from the AP:
Gonzaga, the small Northwest school that consistently delivers big NCAA tournament wins, is on top of The Associated Press’ Top 25 for the first time.
Riding the best record in Division I at 29-2, the Bulldogs took advantage of Indiana’s loss to Minnesota last week and switched places with the Hoosiers, advancing from No. 2 and moving comfortably into the No. 1 spot Monday.
The Spokane, Wash., school best known for Bing Crosby’s croons and John Stockton’s passes received 51 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel, 44 more than Indiana.
Gonzaga becomes the 57th school to be ranked No. 1 since the AP poll began in January 1949. The Bulldogs are the fifth school to hold the top slot this season.
Indiana was the preseason No. 1 and on top for nine other weeks. Duke, which was No. 1 for five weeks, and Louisville and Michigan, which were both on top for one week, were the other No. 1s this season.
Gonzaga reached No. 2 last week, at the time its highest ranking. After Indiana’s defeat, the Bulldogs capped their West Coast Conference regular season with wins over BYU and Portland to pave the way to the one-spot leap. Their first game as a No. 1 team will be in the semifinals of the WCC tournament Saturday night.
Duke, which followed a loss to Virginia with a win over Miami, stayed third with five first-place votes. Kansas and Georgetown both jumped two spots to fourth and fifth. The Hoyas received the other two first-place votes.
Miami, Michigan, Louisville, Kansas State and Michigan State rounded out the top 10.
Virginia Commonwealth and UCLA, both ranked earlier in the season, returned to the poll at 21st and 23rd, respectively. They replaced Butler and Louisiana Tech. Butler fell out from 20th after a 32-point loss to VCU. Louisiana Tech dropped out after one week at No. 25 despite winning its two games last week by an average of 25 points.
1 Gonzaga (51) 29-2 1,607
2 Indiana (7) 25-4 1,517
3 Duke (5) 25-4 1,471
4 Kansas 25-4 1,433
5 Georgetown (2) 23-4 1,384
6 Miami (FL) 23-5 1,245
7 Michigan 24-5 1,240
8 Louisville 24-5 1,217
9 Kansas State 24-5 1,040
10 Michigan State 22-7 1,006
11 Florida 23-5 993
12 New Mexico 25-4 950
13 Oklahoma State 22-6 833
14 Ohio State 21-7 763
15 Marquette 21-7 687
16 Saint Louis 23-5 675
17 Syracuse 22-7 589
18 Arizona 23-6 394
19 Oregon 23-6 332
20 Pittsburgh 23-7 326
21 Virginia Commonwealth 23-6 277
22 Wisconsin 20-9 217
23 UCLA 22-7 196
24 Notre Dame 22-7 164
25 Memphis 25-4 149
