The first Associated Press Men’s College Ledge basketball pole of the regular season remained stable at the top.
The rest, presumably, was fraught with change as teams exceeded or failed to meet preview expectations.
Gonzaga and Baylor remained 1-2 in the polls announced on Monday. The Zags received 57 of the first 63 votes cast by the media panel, and the Bears had six of the first-ranked votes. They were the only two teams to hold their places from the preseason poll.
Gonzaga retained the top spot by commanding margin with an impressive win in Fort Myers, Florida. The Zags (2-0) turned Kansas up 102-90 and crushed A Burn 90-67 the next day.
“We think we can score on any,” said Drew Tim of Gonzaga, who had 28 points and 10 rebounds against Burn. “We’ve got great coaching. If we run our offense and not bowl, we feel like we can score in every team.”
Benner was forced out of the “Bubbleville” tournament in Uncasville, Connecticut, after coached Scott Drew tested positive for COVID-19. The Bears (2-0) adjusted their schedule and had no trouble advancing Louisiana-Lafayette and Washington under assistant coach Jerome Tang.
Losing to Virginia Tech, Villanova dropped nine places to 12th, advancing to 16th. Even after Virginia lost to San Francisco, she suffered a setback when she dropped to No. 15 in 11th place.
These two losses allowed Iowa to move two places to third, leaving Wisconsin and Illinois behind the top five. Ilini is in the top five for the first time since reaching number one in 2004-05.
JAYHAWKS BREAK RECORD
Kansas dropped one place to 7th after Gonzaga suffered a loss. Jayakx still managed to set a record for the most consecutive weeks in the AP poll.
Kansas was ranked 222nd week, breaking the UCLA record from 1966 to 1980.
The No. 6 Duke has the second longest active voting series in 85 straight 85 weeks.
HAKEES CLIMB
Iowa has the highest ranking since the team reached No. 3 in 2015-16.
Luca Garza had a lot to do with it.
Preview-L-American won against North Carolina Central with 26 points and 10 rebounds in its senior season, followed by 41 points in a 14-15-shootout in Southern’s top two routines.
“Whenever I get this ball I think I can score.” “Sometimes you have those days where you just raise the shots. In each shot I’ve put enough work that when I put it in, I have a strong feeling that it will go inside.”
HOKES MOVE IN
Virginia Tech was ranked 11th in the Atlantic Coast Conference Preseason Poll.
The Hockey may be better than expected depending on their opening week.
Virginia Tech (3-0) started the season with an easy win over Redford, then pulled the upset by knocking after a no-no. Villanova in 3 overtime at Bubbleville. The Hawkeyes ended their weekend with an 18-point win over South Florida, as their game against the Temple was canceled due to concerns about the Covid-19.
Rising / Falling
The early regular-season polls in Virginia and Villanova saw the two biggest drops, but there were also many other movements.
Houston No. 17 climbed seven places from 17th after beating Texas Tech, down three places from last week.
No. 8 Michigan State beat Notre Dame and Eastern Michigan in five places.
No. 20 dropped 10 spots after losing to Richmond’s home in Kentucky. The win was Spiders’ first win on the road against the top 10 teams and helped them get into the No. 19 poll.
The state of No. 25 Arizona also fell seven places after two wins and a defeat to Villanova.
Moving out
The UCLA withdrew from the polls after losing to San Diego State and the need for triple overtime to beat Pepperdin.
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