Gonzaga, Big Ten continue to dominate

It’s hard to decide who has been more dominant in men’s college basketball this season: Gonzaga or the Big Ten Conference.

The Bulldogs remained the clear-cut No. 1 on Monday, earning 62 of 64 firstplace votes in The Associated Press poll after their latest win over a Top 25 foe, while the Big Ten placed nine teams in the poll, with Wisconsin and Iowa in the top 10.

Gonzaga blitzed then-No. 16 Virginia 98-75 on Saturday for the most lopsided win over a ranked team in the Mark Few era, giving the Bulldogs a poll-record fourth win over a Top 25 team in a team’s first seven games of a season. Kansas, Iowa and West Virginia also have fallen to Corey Kispert & Co., all of them on neutral floors.

“They’re so potent offensively,” Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett said. “They’re so well-coached. They have such talent. Our lack of athleticism showed. They have such athletic guys, and they’re veterans in all spots, I think.”

Second-ranked Baylor received the other two firstplace votes, and the Jayhawks remained No. 3 after their rout of then-No. 7 West Virginia. Villanova and Houston each moved up a spot after Iowa’s overtime loss to Minnesota.

After that? Well, it pretty much reads like the Big Ten standings.

The sixth-ranked Badgers began a run of Top 25 teams from the league, jumping three spots after wins over Nebraska and then-No. 12 Michigan State. The Hawkeyes dropped from fourth to 10th while surprising Rutgers began a run of four more Big Ten teams at No. 14 — Illinois, Michigan and the Spartans were right behind the Scarlet Knights.

No. 19 Northwestern and No. 21 Minnesota were newcomers to the poll and Ohio State rounded out the Top 25.

“You look at our schedule, this is a heck of a week for us from an energy standpoint,” said Wildcats coach Chris Collins, whose team is ranked for the first time since Nov. 13, 2017. “To have to play Michigan State, at Indiana, then come home and play a real tough Ohio State team and to win all three games, it shows a lot about the grit of our team.”

Northwestern’s next five games begin with trips to Iowa and Michigan, a home game against Illinois, a trip to Ohio State and the return game against the Hawkeyes. In fact, eight of their next nine are against ranked opponents.