SPOKANE, Wash.—Gonzaga is ranked No. 10 in the first Associated Press college basketball poll of the season.
It’s the Bulldogs’ highest ranking since they were eighth in the preseason poll in 2005-06.
Gonzaga has nearly everyone back from a team that finished 25-8 last season and qualified for a 10th consecutive NCAA tournament. It’s ranked between No. 9 Notre Dame and No. 11 Purdue, and is the only Northwest team on the poll.
The Bulldogs play their sole exhibition game on Saturday against Wayne State in the sold-out McCarthey Athletic Center.
Of course, coach Mark Few is dampening expectations for the earliest exhibition game anyone can remember.
“Whether we are ready for public eyes remains to be seen,” Few said this week.
Guard Jeremy Pargo dispelled the notion that the Zags might take it easy on the NCAA Division II foes as they prepare for a season that includes games against No. 2 Connecticut, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 13 Memphis, Indiana, Washington State and other major programs.
“Whether we are ranked fifth or 230th, we are looking to win every game we play,” Pargo said.
There won’t be too many new faces on the floor, as the Zags lost only David Pendergraft and Abdullahi Kuso among major contributors last year.
They return West Coast Conference player of the year Pargo, leading scorer Matt Bouldin, Josh Heytvelt, Micah Downs, Austin Daye, Steven Gray, Robert Sacre and Ira Brown.
“There are always expectations on the program,” Heytvelt said. “We are used to the fact that people think we are a top 10 team.”
The Wayne State game has special significance for Jerry Krause, director of basketball operations for the Bulldogs. He graduated from the Nebraska college and played two years on the junior varsity.
Krause is a long-standing member of the NCAA Rules Committee, and is in the NAIA Basketball Coaches Hall of Fame. Last December he was the winter commencement speaker at Wayne State, where the idea for this exhibition game came up, Krause said.
The regular season opener is Nov. 15 against Montana State-Billings.
