SPOKANE, Wash. – The Gonzaga men's basketball team was ranked No. 2 in the USA TODAY Coaches' preseason poll Thursday. It's the best-ever preseason ranking in the poll for the Zags.
Baylor beat out GU by only two points for the No. 1 spot. It's the first time Baylor has led the preseason balloting since USA TODAY started administering the poll in 1991. In the preseason balloting, the Bears received 764 poll points and 12 first-place votes to narrowly edge out Gonzaga and Villanova for the top spot. The second-ranked Zags picked up 10 firsts and 762 total points, and the Wildcats got 755 points with eight top nods to open at No. 3. This is the closest preseason vote since the 2015-16 season, when Kentucky and North Carolina started out the year tied for first.
The remaining two No. 1 votes went to Iowa and Duke, ranked No. 6 and 8, respectively. Virginia, the winner of the most recent NCAA tournament in 2019, will open at No. 4, while perennial contender Kansas rounds out the top five.
The Bulldogs open the season with Kansas on Nov. 26, in Fort Myers, Fla. Baylor and Gonzaga square off in Indianapolis on Dec. 5. GU and Iowa meet in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Dec. 19. West Coast Conference opponents BYU and Saint Mary's received eight votes and one vote.
Gonzaga opens in the top-20 of the poll for the eighth straight year. GU appears in the coaches' preseason poll for the 11th straight season. The Zags were ranked seventh in last year's USA Today preseason coaches' poll, before ending the season at No. 2. Last year's ranking matched the Bulldogs' 2005-06 previous highest ranking ever in the Preseason Coaches' Poll at No. 7.
The Bulldogs will entertain fans at the Numerica Kraziness in the Kennel tonight. The annual event will be closed to fans, but will be televised on KHQ and ROOT Sports Northwest at 8 p.m.
2020-21 USA TODAY Coaches Preseason Poll
| 1 |
Baylor (12) |
0-0 |
764 |
| 2 |
Gonzaga (10) |
0-0 |
762 |
| 3 |
Villanova (8) |
0-0 |
755 |
| 4 |
Virginia |
0-0 |
666 |
| 5 |
Kansas |
0-0 |
612 |
| 6 |
Iowa (1) |
0-0 |
587 |
| 7 |
Wisconsin |
0-0 |
579 |
| 8 |
Duke (1) |
0-0 |
555 |
| 9 |
Kentucky |
0-0 |
541 |
| 10 |
Illinois |
0-0 |
523 |
| 11 |
Creighton |
0-0 |
458 |
| 12 |
Michigan St |
0-0 |
437 |
| 13 |
Texas Tech |
0-0 |
420 |
| 14 |
Tennessee |
0-0 |
383 |
| 15 |
West Virginia |
0-0 |
347 |
| 16 |
North Carolina |
0-0 |
266 |
| 17 |
Arizona State |
0-0 |
240 |
| 18 |
Houston |
0-0 |
203 |
| 18 |
Florida State |
0-0 |
203 |
| 20 |
Oregon |
0-0 |
193 |
| 21 |
UCLA |
0-0 |
145 |
| 22 |
Texas |
0-0 |
137 |
| 23 |
Rutgers |
0-0 |
104 |
| 24 |
Ohio St. |
0-0 |
102 |
| 25 |
Alabama |
0-0 |
62 |
Others Receiving Votes: Louisville 55; Florida 52; Michigan 38; Louisiana State 27; San Diego St. 23; Dayton 23; Richmond 21; Maryland 15; Indiana 14; Seton Hall 12; Memphis 12; Connecticut 11; Stanford 10; Oklahoma State 9; Northern Iowa 8; Brigham Young 8; Syracuse 4; Providence 4; Purdue 3; Arkansas 2; Western Kentucky 1; Stephen F. Austin 1; Saint Mary's 1; Loyola-Chicago 1; Georgia Tech 1.
