Kansas should be new No. 1 after Gonzaga squanders perfect season
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Gonzaga not only lost its perfect season Saturday after losing to BYU, but it may have lost its No. 1 ranking as well.
While many will say the 29-1 Bulldogs still deserve the top spot when Monday's poll is released, there are several other teams that could make a case they deserve the distinction. Kansas, Villanova, and UCLA come to mind, but it's the Jayhawks that are most worthy of being No. 1.
Despite the fact UCLA, Kansas, and Villanova all have three losses, it's not a stretch to say we should be viewing them on the same level as Gonzaga. If the Bulldogs played in the Pac-12, Big 12, or Big East, it's safe to say you could add at least another two losses to their tally.
Gonzaga simply doesn't play anybody good. This isn't to say the Bulldogs aren't worthy of a top-five ranking, but they shouldn't automatically jump ahead of the aforementioned three because they had an easier schedule. Mark Few's only two wins of note this year came against Arizona and Florida. They beat the Wildcats in December and the Gators in November, when Florida was unranked.
Since then, the only remotely challenging team Gonzaga has faced is Saint Mary's, and even then, the Gaels aren't exactly a college basketball juggernaut.
Based on Gonzaga's weak schedule putting these four teams with roughly the same resume in the loss column, the next question to ask is who had the worst defeat? Well, each program has one head scratcher this year, starting with Gonzaga losing to BYU on Saturday, Kansas falling at home to Iowa State, Villanova dropping a game against Marquette, and UCLA going down to USC.
No other loss for these teams is that glaring, so now we move on to quality wins. Each team has a signature victory, but this is where the Jayhawks narrowly edge the pack. Villanova's best victory arguably came against Purdue or Virginia. They beat the Boilermakers in the second game of the season and the Cavaliers are all the way down to 18 in the poll, so the Wildcats' resume isn't strong enough for No. 1.
Where it gets tricky is between UCLA and Kansas. Both teams are riding lengthy winning streaks and have beaten a pair of then top-10 ranked squads over that stretch. Not only that, both teams have a road win against Kentucky.
Kansas gets the slight edge because they've also beaten Duke and have won four games against then-ranked top-five opposition, compared to UCLA's three.
In conclusion, all four teams are really good.