Gonzaga, UCLA top men’s AP Top 25; South Carolina, UConn headline women’s poll
Gonzaga, UCLA and Kansas held the top three spots in The Associated Press’ first Top 25 rankings of the regular season while Michigan climbed two spots to No. 4.
The Bulldogs received 55 first-place votes from a 61-person media panel in the poll released Monday after a win over Texas. The No. 2 Bruins had six first-place votes after beating Villanova and the Jayhawks were third following a win over Michigan State.
Villanova dropped a spot to No. 5. Purdue, Duke, Texas, reigning national champion Baylor and Illinois rounded out the top 10.
Gonzaga (2-0) expectedly rolled over Dixie State in its opener and then had an early statement game, jumping on then-No. 5 Texas early on the way 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 hosted then-No. 4 Villanova.
The Bruins were sluggish early without forward Cody Riley due to a sprained left knee, but rallied from a 10-point deficit to win 86-77 at a raucous Pauley Pavilion.
Kansas (2-0) played Michigan State in a doubleheader with Kentucky and Duke at Madison Square Garden to open the season. The Jayhawks were sharp, winning 87-74 behind Ochai Agbaji’s career-high 29 points. Agbaji, who considered leaving Lawrence for the NBA, added 25 points in a lopsided win over Tarleton State.
WOMEN’S AP TOP 25
After an impressive win, Indiana has vaulted to its best ranking ever: No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25 women’s basketball poll.
The veteran Hoosiers had their best ranking ever at No. 8 in the preseason Top 25 and then had a week that included a rout of then-No. 13 Kentucky, 88-67. Indiana returned all five starters from last season’s team that went to the Elite Eight and had its sixth consecutive 20win season.
South Carolina remained the top team in the poll, receiving 25 first-place votes from a national media panel. The Gamecocks had an impressive nine-point win at No. 5 North Carolina State to tip off the season.
The Gamecocks were followed by UConn, which garnered the other five No. 1 votes, and Maryland.
All five of the top teams will head to the Bahamas over the next two weeks to play in two tournaments. There is the potential for a 1-2 matchup between the Gamecocks and Huskies if both teams win their first two games in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
The Hoosiers, Terrapins, Wolfpack and No. 7 Stanford play in another round-robin tournament on the island over Thanksgiving. The Cardinal dropped four spots after losing to then-No.25 Texas, which jumped to No. 12.