Gonzaga holds down No. 1 spot in Paste BN Sports men's basketball poll
Gonzaga retains the No. 1 ranking in the Paste BN Sports men’s basketball coaches poll. The rest of the top five, however, looks a bit different from last week.
The Bulldogs received 27 of 32 first-place votes this week after completing a regular-season sweep of the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga is just one of two teams in Division I to enter its league tournament with a perfect conference record (No. 22 Wofford of the Southern Conference is the other).
Virginia now holds the No. 2 spot alone after sharing it with Duke last week. The Cavaliers received the remaining five first-place nods, though they still have plenty of company from their ACC competitors in the top five heading into the final week of conference play.
North Carolina vaults to No. 3 and Duke is tied for fourth with Tennessee. The Vols move up after avenging their loss to Kentucky. The Wildcats fall just a couple of places to No. 6. Michigan, Texas Tech, Purdue and LSU round out the top 10.
TOP 25: Complete Paste BN Sports men's basketball poll
Villanova and Iowa State rejoin the poll after a one-week absence, moving back in at No. 23 and No. 25, respectively.
Washington, which was tied for 25th a week ago, is among the trio of dropouts after losing at Pac-12 cellar dweller California. Iowa and Louisville also fall from the poll.