Gonzaga completes season-long run at No. 1 in AP Top 25

Gonzaga opened the season at No. 1. The Bulldogs never let go of that ranking.

Now, after a startto-finish run atop The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, coach Mark Few’s Bulldogs are focused on trying to become the first unbeaten national

champion in more than four decades.

The Bulldogs (26-0) received all 60 first-place votes to stay atop Monday’s final poll, becoming the first team since Kentucky in 2014-15 to be No. 1 in every poll and the 14th overall. Gonzaga, named the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, will try to become the first unbeaten national champion since Indiana in 1976.

“This whole season has been a challenge,” freshman Jalen Suggs said after the Bulldogs won the West Coast Conference Tournament last week. “But every single one of us on the roster and on the coaching staff have answered to it.”

Seven of the teams that went wire-to-wire at No. 1 ended up winning the national championship, most recently when Duke claimed a second straight title in 1992. Two of the last three — UNLV in 1990-91 and the 2015 Kentucky team — carried unbeaten records into the NCAA Tournament but lost in the Final Four.

Suggs said it was hard not to think about the potential history ahead, saying: “At some point, you’ve kind of got to acknowledge how special of a thing and special of a ride that we’re on right now.”

Gonzaga won every game but one by double-figure margins, the outlier being an 87-82 victory over West Virginia in December. But the Bulldogs had to rally from 12 down at halftime to beat BYU in the WCC Tournament final.

“I give this group of guys just a ton of credit,” Few said. “I mean, what a perfect team to go through 2020-21 with.”

UConn finishes No. 1 in women’s AP Top 25 for 16th time

In one of the most unconventional seasons ever, UConn finished in a familiar place — at No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll.

It’s the 16th time that the Huskies have completed the regular season as the top team in the poll. They received 23 first-place votes on Monday from a national media panel of 30 voters.

UConn paused activities early on in the season due to COVID-19 issues and didn’t play its first game until Dec. 12. The team ran through the Big East’s regular season and conference tournament finishing at 24-1 and is in line for a No. 1 seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament when the field is announced Monday night.

The Huskies were No. 1 for the final five weeks of the season.

While UConn’s main goal is to win a 12th national championship, coach Geno Auriemma didn’t want to downplay the poll accomplishment, especially with such a young squad led by sensational freshman Paige Bueckers.

“If the season ends and you say ‘We’re No. 1 in the country,’ it should mean something, it means you had a great year,” Auriemma said. “To me, any time you lose sight of all that, you’re diminishing your accomplishments a little bit. It can’t just be Final Four or nothing.”

There were five different teams ranked No. 1 this season — the second most in the poll’s history. Stanford, which spent six weeks atop the Top 25, finished at No. 2; the Cardinal received five first-place votes.

North Carolina State was No. 3, matching its best final ranking, achieved by the 1978 squad. The Wolfpack received the other two first-place votes. Texas A&M and Baylor rounded out the top five teams.

Indiana fires Miller, raises private money to cover buyout

Archie Miller’s $10.3 million buyout was one of college basketball’s priciest.

Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson decided keeping Miller would prove even more costly to the storied program.

Dolson fired Miller on Monday, armed with enough cash from private donations to cover the buyout and ready to answer a fan base angered by four straight mediocre seasons.