After two humbling losses, Gophers drop to No. 23 in AP top-25 poll
It was a rough week for head coach Richard Pitino and the Minnesota Gophers.
On Wednesday, Minnesota suffered a deflating 82-57 loss to Michigan. Four days later, the Gophers failed to follow up on their Christmas Day upset and lost 86-71 to Iowa. The pair of losses to top-10 teams dropped the Gophers seven spots in the Associated Press poll from No. 16 to No. 23.
Minnesota (10-4) will have a chance to get revenge against Michigan when it hosts the Wolverines at 1 p.m. Saturday.
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Elsewhere in the poll, Gonzaga and Baylor remain atop for the seventh consecutive week in the regular season.
The Zags received 63 of 64 first-place votes from a national media panel, and the Bears had the other one. Villanova, Texas and Iowa rounded out a top 5 that remained the same from last week.
Gonzaga (12-0) had two games last week and turned both into routs, beating BYU 86-69 and Portland 116-88. The Zags have won 16 straight, dating to last season.
Baylor (11-0) beat Oklahoma and TCU last week to hold at No. 2.
No. 25 Connecticut moved into the poll for the first time since reaching No. 18 in 2016-17.
Ohio State returned to the rankings at No. 21, while Rutgers and Florida State tumbled out from Nos. 15 and 25.
AP TOP 25 POLL — WEEK 8 (released Jan. 11)
| RANK | TEAM | PV RANK |
| 1 | Gonzaga (12-0) | 1 |
| 2 | Baylor (11-0) | 2 |
| 3 | Villanova (8-1) | 3 |
| 4 | Texas (10-1) | 4 |
| 5 | Iowa (11-2) | 5 |
| 6 | Kansas (10-2) | 6 |
| 7 | Michigan (10-0) | 10 |
| 8 | Creighton (10-2) | 7 |
| 9 | Wisconsin (10-2) | 8 |
| 10 | Tennessee (9-1) | 9 |
| 11 | Houston (10-1) | 11 |
| 12 | Clemson (9-1) | 19 |
| 13 | West Virginia (9-4) | 14 |
| 14 | Illinois (9-4) | 12 |
| 15 | Texas Tech (10-3) | 18 |
| 16 | Louisville (8-1) | NR |
| 17 | Missouri (7-2) | 13 |
| 18 | Virginia (7-2) | 22 |
| 19 | Duke (5-2) | 21 |
| 20 | Virginia Tech (9-2) | 19 |
| 21 | Ohio State (9-3) | NR |
| 22 | Oregon (9-2) | 17 |
| 23 | Minnesota (10-4) | 16 |
| 24 | St. Louis (7-1) | 23 |
| 25 | Connecticut (6-1) | NR |
