Gonzaga near unanimous No. 1 in poll

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MCLEAN, Va., March 18 (UPI) -- Gonzaga came within one vote of being a unanimous No. 1 in the final USA Today coaches' poll before the NCAA Tournament.

Gonzaga (31-2) played once last week, winning the West Coast Conference Tournament with a win March 11 over Saint Mary's (Calif.). While that apparently didn't completely impress the committee that seeds teams for the NCAA Tournament, the coaches on the poll's voting board took notice.

Gonzaga pulls in 31 first-place votes and is second on the other ballot this week. In the tournament, the Bulldogs did receive a No. 1 seed but the overall No. 1 honor went to Louisville.

Louisville (29-5) is the No. 2 team in the poll, taking the other first-place mention, followed by Kansas (29-6). Indiana (27-6) and Miami (Fla.) (27-6) are tied for fourth. Kansas and Indiana are also No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Miami improves its ranking six places this week.

Ohio State (26-7) is up three spots to No. 6 with Duke (27-5) down five to seventh and Georgetown (25-6) slipping three to eighth. Miami, Ohio State, Duke and Georgetown are the No. 2 seeds for the NCAA Tournament.

Michigan State (25-8) comes in ninth and New Mexico (29-5) is 10th after a week at 13th.

Michigan (26-7) comes in 11th with Florida (26-7) in the No. 12 spot and St. Louis (27-6) up three to 13th. Kansas State (27-7) is down to 14th and Memphis (30-4) is voted No. 15.

Marquette (23-8) takes the 16th position and Wisconsin (23-11) jumps six places to No. 17. Syracuse (26-9) improves to 18th with Oklahoma State (24-8) down four to 19th and Arizona (25-7) is 20th.

Creighton (27-7) is voted in 21st with Pittsburgh (24-8) coming at 22nd and Virginia Commonwealth (26-8) 23rd. Oregon (26-8) re-enters the poll at 24th and Saint Mary's is No. 25.

UCLA drops out of the ranking this week.