Tag: Gonzaga Bulldogs

West Coast basketball top-25 rankings: Gonzaga and UCLA continue to roll

UCLA crushed Arizona to establish themselves as the top dogs in the Pac-12 in another fun week of west coast hoops.

The biggest game on the west coast last week was between Mick Cronin’s UCLA Bruins and Tommy Lloyd’s Arizona Wildcats, with UCLA securing a huge victory to establish themselves as the team to beat in the Pac-12.

The team to beat on the west coast remains the Bulldogs of Gonzaga, who dropped over 100 points for the fourth time in six games on Saturday against the Portland Pilots.

Elsewhere around the west coast, Boise State is now rocking a 14-game winning streak and sits in first place in the Mountain West, while Stanford has now defeated USC twice this season – two of just three losses for Andy Enfield’s squad.

Three new teams joined the power rankings this week, with one (UNLV) returning after a one week hiatus. The newcomers are 16-5 Weber State and 8-7 UC-Irvine, the only members of the Big Sky and Big West, respectively.

Falling off this week is UW, who got boat raced by Oregon, as well as Stephen F. Austin (who lost to SeattleU and New Mexico State) and Nevada (who lost to Cal Baptist and New Mexico State).

Without further ado, here is the new-look top-25 west coast college basketball power rankings as we head into February:

Gonzaga takes back No. 1 spot in Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll

Following a pair of big losses from former No.1 Baylor, Gonzaga has retaken its spot at the top of the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll.

Following a pair of big losses from former No.1 Baylor, Gonzaga has retaken its spot at the top of the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll.

5 college basketball teams that could go undefeated the rest of the regular season

College basketball’s final two undefeated men’s teams both lost on Tuesday. It’s time to project who could go unbeaten the rest of the regular season.

Tuesday was an eventful day in men’s college basketball. The chaos began early when the No. 5 USC Trojans, a day removed from their first top-5 ranking since 1974, unexpectedly fell in a matinee at unranked Stanford.

It got crazier. No. 9 Kansas and No. 15 Iowa State exchanged potential game-winning shots down the stretch until the Jayhawks made one final stand to avoid a second-straight loss, which occured right after No.1 Baylor suffered its first loss of the season — a 65-62 home loss to No. 19 Texas Tech.

With Tuesday’s USC and Baylor losses, there are no more undefeated teams remaining. However, that doesn’t mean new streaks can’t begin. Let’s reset the table and project which schools could have a shot at going unbeaten throughout the rest of the regular season.

Oklahoma men’s basketball still sits just outside the USA TODAY Sports top-25

The USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll still has OU in the receiving votes section entering a big week.

Oklahoma has been knocking on the door of the USA TODAY Sports Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll for some time.

The Sooners are still just on the outside looking in of the latest edition with 29 points in the receiving votes section. If ranked all the way out, that would place Oklahoma No. 28 nationally.

OU resided in the receiving votes category every week throughout the month of December. This week’s 29 points represent Oklahoma’s season-high tally. Previously, the Sooners’ best total came in the Dec. 20 Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll when OU received 21 points.

A chance to impress exists for Oklahoma this week. The Sooners travel to Waco to take on defending national champion and No. 1 Baylor on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. before playing host to No. 11 Iowa State on Saturday at 5 p.m. inside the Lloyd Noble Center.

After Baylor at No. 1, the rest of the top five looks like this: No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Purdue, No. 4 Gonzaga and No. 5 UCLA.

Kansas checks in at No. 6 and is followed by No. 7 Arizona, No. 8 USC, No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Michigan State.

Texas at No. 16 and Texas Tech at No. 25 are the other two Big 12 schools that are ranked in the Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll.

As is expected in the rugged Big 12, the month of January is littered with challenging games for the Sooners.

Following this week, OU has a trip to No. 16 Texas, home dates with No. 6 Kansas and No. 1 Baylor and a road trip to West Virginia who join the Sooners in the receiving votes section.

Here’s a look at the full Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll, powered by USA TODAY Sports.

Rank Team Record Points Change
1 Baylor (32) 13-0 800 –
2 Duke 11-1 760 –
3 Purdue 12-1 713 –
4 Gonzaga 11-2 693 –
5 UCLA 8-1 657 –
6 Kansas 11-1 654 –
7 Arizona 11-1 559 –
8 USC 12-0 517 +1
9 Auburn 12-1 512 +2
10 Michigan State 12-2 507 –
11 Iowa State 12-1 450 -3
12 Ohio St 9-2 412 –
13 Kentucky 11-2 344 +4
14 Houston 12-2 328 –
15 Villanova 9-4 286 +7
16 Texas 11-2 285 +2
17 Providence 13-1 284 +4
18 Tennessee 9-3 253 -3
19 Colorado St 10-0 229 +1
20 Alabama 10-3 223 -1
21 LSU 12-1 208 -5
22 Seton Hall 9-3 160 -9
23 Wisconsin 10-2 156 –
24 Xavier 11-2 136 –
25 Texas Tech 10-2 110 –

Schools Dropped Out

None

Others Receiving Votes

Illinois 37; Connecticut 30; Oklahoma 29; Loyola-Chicago 16; Arkansas 15; Minnesota 14; San Francisco 6; Brigham Young 5; Saint Mary’s 4; Florida 4; West Virginia 2; Florida State 1; Davidson 1

Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.

What bettors can learn from Duke-Gonzaga on Friday night

Looking into Friday’s Duke-Gonzaga matchup as Chet Holmgren and Paolo Banchero prepare to battle

Here we go again; another early-season candidate for the matchup of the year.

So we hope.

Tuesday’s UCLA-Gonzaga contest didn’t live up to the hype as the Bulldogs completely outclassed the Bruins en route to a 20-point blowout in Las Vegas. The Bruins brought Final Four experience, cohesion and some elite individual talent into the big showdown. They still weren’t a match for the Zags.

From that game, we learned that Gonzaga is the rightful No. 1 team in the nation. But as the Bulldogs move on from UCLA and onto Duke, what more can we learn about No. 1 Gonzaga and, to a further extent, No. 5 Duke?

 

7-foot-1 Chet Holmgren going coast-to-coast from block to dunk is already the best play of the year

Gonzaga freshman Chet Holmgren is already as good as billed for the No. 1 Bulldogs.

The No. 1 Gonzaga Bulldogs cruised to a 20-point win over No. 2 UCLA on Tuesday night, further cementing why they’re the top dogs so far this fall. They have two top-5 wins already this season as No. 5 Texas fell by 12 to the Zags just 10 days before the domination of the Bruins.

One of the biggest reasons for Gonzaga’s success is the emergence of freshman phenom Chet Holmgren. The No. 1 overall rated recruit is the best player head coach Mark Few has lured to Spokane, and he’s already in discussion to go as the first pick in the NBA Draft come July.

At 7-foot-1, Holmgren can block and dunk as you’d expect. You wouldn’t expect the Minneapolis center to make the block, get the rebound, take the ball the length of the court, hit ’em with a little behind-the-back dribble, then launch from the free throw line for an emphatic dunk. But he did all that in the same play against the second-ranked team in the country.

Behold:

Holmgren finished with 15 points, six rebounds, four blocks, and even went 2-for-4 from three.

Most of all, though, he made the play of the year, and we won’t need to take any more submissions.

[mm-video type=video id=01fn7s7e0pw3e2bk5y7n playlist_id=none player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fn7s7e0pw3e2bk5y7n/01fn7s7e0pw3e2bk5y7n-b896d12acd4a87990b9bedd0473e0d0d.jpg]

[listicle id=1288607]

Men’s college hoops game of the night: UCLA vs. Gonzaga

Previewing the men’s college basketball matchup between UCLA and Gonzaga.

If you’re a frequent visitor of the site, you know how much we’ve talked about both UCLA and Gonzaga already. It’s not our fault, both teams are really good and have been in some important matchups already in this young college basketball season. However, no matchup has been as important as this one. If you want to make the case for UCLA-Vilanova being as big, sure. But No. 1 vs No. 2 doesn’t happen every day. At least, not before the NCAA Tourney.

As the Bruins and Bulldogs gear up for one of the most anticipated preseason matchups of the year, we preview the matchups, make sense of what the sportsbook is saying, and predict the outcomes.

All odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook

Chet Holmgren is off to a historic start with Gonzaga

Holmgren has five games in the books this season and is putting up historic numbers to start his collegiate career.

No. 1 recruit Chet Holmgren has put five games in the books this season with the Gonzaga Bulldogs, and the 7-foot-1 standout is putting up historic numbers to start his collegiate career.

The latest performance came on Monday as Holmgren led the No. 1 Bulldogs to a win over Central Michigan to tip off the Good Sam Empire Classic from Las Vegas, Nevada. Holmgren recorded 19 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists in 20 minutes of work.

The 19-year-old once again flashed his unique size and skillset in the victory on Monday. On one sequence, in particular, Holmgren blocked a shot and then took the ball coast-to-coast to finish for the and-1 attempt on the other end.

On the season, Holmgren is averaging 12.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 3.4 blocks on 70.4% shooting from the field.

Holmgren is the only Division I player over the last 25 years to total at least 60 points, 15 assists, 15 blocks and shoot 70% from the field and free-throw line over any five-game span, according to Stats Perform.

Remarkably, he has done that over the first five games of his career.

Holmgren, who was the highest-ranked recruit to commit to Gonzaga, has shown why he was so highly touted coming into this year. He is currently a candidate to be the No. 1 overall pick next year and has shown why he should be in the conversation.

After defeating Central Michigan, Holmgren and Gonzaga will face off against No. 2 UCLA on Tuesday night. He struggled against No. 5 Texas on Nov. 13, recording just two points, so it will be worth monitoring to see how he performs against another highly-ranked opponent.

Gonzaga and UCLA will tip off at 10 p.m. EST on ESPN.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

[lawrence-related id=43872,24563,43967]

[mm-video type=video id=01fm5zm0367bwy461byr playlist_id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f1jxkahtwnvzepyp image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01fm5zm0367bwy461byr/01fm5zm0367bwy461byr-501b2fa1fbe145c164544c01a4223450.jpg]

[listicle id=36125]

Staff Picks: Champions Classic, Final Four and teams to watch this season

Which Blue Blood will claim bragging rights on Tuesday? Which school will have them at the end of March? The BetFTW team digs into it.

The 2021-22 men’s college basketball season gets underway this evening, and for the first time in what feels like forever, fans will be back in the stands. Four blue bloods square off in Madison Square Garden to really get things moving as No. 3 Kansas faces Michigan State in the opener at 7pm on ESPN, while Coach K’s farewell tour gets underway at 9:30pm ET with No. 9 Duke playing No. 10 Kentucky.

In order to get everyone more excited for the start of the season, some of our BetFTW staff got together to make our picks for the Champions Classic, our most anticipated team to watch this season, and the Final Four. All odds courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook.

Let’s get to it!

March Madness 2022: Gonzaga, Texas and the best preseason future bets

Taking a look at which men’s college basketball teams have the greatest odds to make the Final Four.

It’s the of year where closed-door scrimmage scores are never reported but always speculated, players tell the media how much muscle they’ve added and fans all gather into campus venues to partake in their university’s midnight madness.

We’re just over a week away from the start of the men’s college basketball season, and the buzz around it is growing louder. With the season officially tipping off on November 9, we take a look at the few schools that have the best odds at making it to the Final Four.

All odds via Tipico Sportsbook