Gonzaga is out of The Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll for the first time since February 2014, a run of 24 consecutive polls.
The Bulldogs, who lost to UCLA last week to drop to 6-3, were tied for the eighth-longest current streak. Duke has the longest current streak at 161 weeks, starting with the preseason poll of 2007-08. Kansas is the only other school with a streak in triple figures at 129.
Also gone
Three other schools — Vanderbilt, Oregon and Utah — also dropped out.
Vanderbilt, which lost to Dayton last week, fell from 21st. The Commodores were ranked every week this season reaching as high as 16th.
Oregon, which lost to Boise State, was 24th and saw a four-week stretch of being ranked end.
Utah was No. 16 in the preseason poll and the first regular-season Top 25. The Utes dropped out for two weeks before returning at No. 25 last week, but they lost to Wichita State last week and fell out of the rankings.
Welcome aboard
Two of the four new teams in this week’s poll — George Washington and UCLA — are ranked for the first time this season.
George Washington (9-1) moves in at No. 21, the Colonials’ first poll appearance since 2005-06 when they were ranked all season, reaching as high as No. 6. Their only loss this season was to Cincinnati and they won three straight since.
UCLA (7-3) has won four straight games since returning from the Maui Invitational, including wins over then-No. 1 Kentucky and Gonzaga. The Bruins were ranked for one week last season.
Texas A&M and UConn, who were both ranked earlier in the season, moved in at Nos. 24 and 25.
High marks
Oklahoma, which beat then-No. 9 Villanova 78-55 at Pearl Harbor last week, is No. 3 for the first time since February 2009.
Xavier, coming off its intra-city win over Cincinnati, cracked the top 10 for the first since December 2011, when the Musketeers were No. 8.
On top
This is Michigan State’s ninth week as the No. 1 team, breaking a tie with St. John’s and West Virginia for 26th place all-time. Next on the list is Houston, which was No. 1 for 11 weeks. The last season the Cougars were No. 1 was 1982-83.
Conference call
The Big 12 has five teams in this week’s poll, as many as the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Big East has four ranked teams while the Big Ten has three. The Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference have two each.
George Washington is the first team from the Atlantic 10 to be ranked this season.
Ups & downs
Oklahoma had the week’s biggest jump in the poll. The biggest drop was North Carolina’s tumble from third to 11th after losing 84-82 at Texas.
Ranked vs. ranked
There are four games between ranked teams this week and they are all on Saturday: No. 22 UCLA faces No. 11 North Carolina in Brooklyn; No. 12 Villanova is at No. 8 Virginia; No. 17 Butler meets No. 9 Purdue in Indianapolis; No. 16 Baylor visits No. 24 Texas A&M.
