Gonzaga carried a No. 1 ranking all last season before falling a win short of becoming college basketball's first unbeaten national champion in 45 years.
Mark Few's Bulldogs start this season in the same position, hoping to complete that final step this time around.
The Zags were the runaway top choice in The Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball preseason poll released Monday. They earned 55 of 63 first-place votes to easily outdistance No. 2 UCLA, which earned the other eight. Kansas, Villanova and Texas rounded out the top five, while reigning national champion Baylor checked in at No. 8.
The Zags have accomplished just about every milestone possible in 23 years under Few other than cutting down the nets on the final Monday night of the season. They came close to completing the first unbeaten run since 1976 last year with a wire-to-wire No. 1 team, only to fall to the Bears in a one-sided final in Indianapolis.
Now they'll try again.
"It is quite an honor to be selected preseason No. 1 for the second consecutive year," Few said in a statement to the AP. "Our returning players realize the challenge of playing up to that level all year and look forward to it."
Gonzaga lost AP All-Americans Corey Kispert and Jalen Suggs to the NBA, but second-team selection Drew Timme (19.0 points, 7.0 rebounds) and starting guard Andrew Nembhard return. The Zags also bring in a top recruiting class featuring the nation's No. 1 overall recruit in 7-footer Chet Holmgren and a five-star guard in Hunter Sallis.
Going back to the 2019-20 season, the Zags have now been ranked in the top three for 32 straight polls, with 22 of those at No. 1.
FILE - Gonzaga head coach Mark Few calls a play for his team as they play against Oklahoma in the first half of a second-round game in the NCAA men's college basketball tournament at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, in this Monday, March 22, 2021, file photo. Gonzaga carried a No. 1 ranking all last season before falling a win short of becoming college basketball’s first unbeaten national champion in 45 years. Mark Few’s Bulldogs start this season in the same position, hoping to complete that final step this time around. The Zags were the runaway top choice in The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball preseason poll released Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)Second-year coach Mick Cronin has UCLA on a fast climb.
Leading scorer Johnny Juzang (16.0 ppg) headlines a Bruins roster that returns nearly intact after last year's run from the First Four to the Final Four, where they lost to Gonzaga on a halfcourt shot in an overtime classic.
They are starting with their first top-10 preseason ranking since 2009 and their first top-10 ranking in any AP poll since spending 13 weeks there during the 2016-17 season.
"If we taught anybody anything last year,," Cronin said this month, "your seed or your ranking does not matter come tournament time."
Kansas has the program's 10th straight preseason top-10 ranking, followed by the Wildcats and Longhorns, who open their first season under Chris Beard with the program's highest preseason ranking since 2010.
Baylor has a second straight top-10 preseason ranking despite losing four starters from last year's title winner, including AP All-Americans Jared Butler and Davion Mitchell. The Bears will try to join Duke (1991-92) and Florida (2006-07) as the only schools to win consecutive titles since UCLA's run of seven straight from 1967-73.
"As we've talked with our team,," Baylor coach Scott Drew said, "we have a unique opportunity."
Duke and Kentucky are starting with their typically high rankings after seasons unlike many in their tradition-rich histories.
The ninth-ranked Blue Devils are playing the final season under retiring Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski. They're coming off a 13-11 season that included missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats are right behind them after a 9-16 season, the program's first losing record since 1988-89.
Then there's North Carolina, which made the NCAA Tournament but was inconsistent all season and out of the Top 25 before Christmas. The Tar Heels open at No. 19 in their first season under Hubert Davis, promoted after the retirement of Hall of Famer Roy Williams in April.
FILE - UCLA's Johnny Juzang smiles during Pac-12 Conference NCAA men's college basketball media day in San Francisco, in this Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2021, file photo. UCLA is No. 2 in The Associated Press Top 25 men's college basketball poll, released Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. Leading scorer Johnny Juzang (16.0 ppg) headlines a Bruins roster that returns nearly intact after last year’s run from the First Four to the Final Four, where they lost to Gonzaga on a halfcourt shot in an overtime classic. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)