NCAA Basketball: Kansas State, Providence on the rise on latest top 25 power ranking

9. Gonzaga (14-3)

It’s conference play, which means Gonzaga’s schedule is going to be a fair bit easier than most of the other teams around here in the rankings. After really testing themselves in the nonconference slate, the Bulldogs should have a much easier time with their conference foes, but that really wasn’t the case this past week.

First off, they barely survived in San Francisco, coming back from a 10-point halftime deficit to get a 77-76 win against the Dons. Rasir Bolton led the way with 21 points while Julian Strawther had 16 points and 6 rebounds in the clutch win. Two days later came another halftime deficit on the road, but again the Bulldogs rallied back for an 81-76 win at Santa Clara. Drew Timme and Nolan Hickman both had 20 points in the win.

Gonzaga is going to constantly get the best effort from their conference rivals this season, and they showed the resilience to fight back from these early deficits. While winning at Santa Clara or San Francisco might not be as notable as some of these Big East or Big 12 victories, they’re wins and Gonzaga’s now strung 9 of those in a row, with the potential for a lot more in the coming months. Next week marks a third dangerous road game in a row, this time at BYU.