24. Gonzaga Bulldogs - 9-4
The Bulldogs started out the season making the biggest statement possible, beating Baylor by 38 points in a top-10 matchup to open the year. They started out the year at 5-0, including wins over Arizona State and on the road at San Diego State.
But cracks started to show when Gonzaga was in the Battle 4 Atlantis. They took on West Virginia in the opening round, yet in one of the more surprising early results, they lost in OT. Gonzaga beat Indiana and Davidson in the event, but the Bulldogs lost to UConn, Kentucky, and UCLA in the last three meaningful matchups for them in the non-con.
There’s plenty of offensive firepower on the roster. Graham Ike leads the team with 16 ppg, while Ryan Nembhard leads all of NCAA Basketball with 10 apg. Six players are putting up double figures, but they have four close losses and have struggled to come through in crunch time.
Gonzaga is now in WCC play, starting with a road game at Pepperdine on Monday. It’s a fairly easy league slate in the first couple of weeks, so the hope is that they can get some new momentum after what ended up being a rough December with results.