Gonzaga leads Illinois in final Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll of regular season

Gonzaga will take the No. 1 ranking in the Ferris Mowers Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll into the NCAA Tournament as it hopes to bring home the program’s first national title. The Bulldogs, the lone undefeated team in the field, received all 32 first-place votes in retaining the top spot they’ve held for most of the season.

The next three spots are likely to mirror the top four regional seeds. Illinois moves up one place to  No. 2, followed by Baylor and Michigan. SEC regular-season and tournament champion Alabama rounds out the top five.

Houston in at No. 6 after winning the American Athletic tournament title Sunday.

Gonzaga players celebrate after defeating Brigham Young in the West Coast Conferencet tournament championship game at Orleans Arena. (Photo: Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports)

No. 7 Ohio State and No. 8 Iowa give the Big Ten half of the top eight. And indeed, all four of those teams could be top-two seeds.

TOP 25: Complete Ferris Mowers Men's Basketball Coaches Poll

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Texas makes the biggest move of the week, vaulting seven places to No. 9 after winning the Big 12 tournament. Arkansas falls a couple of positions but holds on to a top-10 spot.

The second 10 is headed by the Big 12 trio of Kansas, Oklahoma State and West Virginia.

The league does lose one squad from the Top 25, however, as Oklahoma drops out. Colorado rejoins the rankings at No. 22 despite coming up short in the Pac-12 title game.

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