Gonzaga will begin the new season ranked No. 21 in the AP preseason Top 25 poll.
The Associated Press released the writers poll on Friday. The Zags are just behind San Diego State and just above Notre Dame.
Indiana begins the season ranked No. 1, followed by Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State and Michigan. Other teams of note in the West include Arizona at No. 12, UCLA and No. 13 and UNLV at No. 18. Saint Mary's showed up in the "others receiving votes" list.
The poll mostly mirrors the coaches poll released last week in which Gonzaga was No. 22.
Gonzaga plays its first and only exhibition game Saturday at McCarthey Athletic Center at 5 p.m. The game can be seen on both SWX and KHQ in the Spokane area. The following week they will play a scrimmage against Texas in Denver. The team's first regular season game is Nov. 9 against Southern Utah.
AP Preseason Top 25 (Rank-Votes-Record-Pts.-Previous)
1. Indiana (43) 27-9 1,592 16 2. Louisville (20) 30-10 1,568 17 3. Kentucky (2) 38-2 1,453 1 4. Ohio St. 31-8 1,292 7 5. Michigan 24-10 1,290 13 6. NC State 24-13 1,270 - 7. Kansas 32-7 1,210 6 8. Duke 27-7 1,094 8 9. Syracuse 34-3 1,062 2 10. Florida 26-11 936 25 11. North Carolina 32-6 904 4 12. Arizona 23-12 902 - 13. UCLA 19-14 840 - 14. Michigan St. 29-8 789 5 15. Missouri 30-5 664 3 16. Creighton 29-6 622 19 17. Memphis 26-9 539 - 18. UNLV 26-9 488 23 19. Baylor 30-8 486 9 20. San Diego St. 26-8 463 22 21. Gonzaga 26-7 384 - 22. Notre Dame 22-12 297 - 23. Wisconsin 26-10 285 14 24. Cincinnati 26-11 120 - 25. Florida St. 25-10 101 10

