In the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Preseason Top 25 poll released today, Gonzaga University was ranked 12th while the University of Washington was tied for 16th with the University of Illinois.
↵But what do these things mean? Not much, according Zach Bell of SBN's Gonzaga blog:
↵↵↵Gonzaga ranked 12th by the Coaches - The Slipper Still Fits
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To be quite honest with you, these rankings really don't mean much because there are so many question marks once you get past the first three teams. It is my opinion that those top three of Duke, Michigan State, and Kansas State are the best looking teams on paper. Then you drop down and that range of teams from 4-15 is a total crapshoot and could be flipped around after two or three weeks of the season. Everyone has question marks. Many have freshman that need to step up for them to be relevant (Ohio State, North Carolina, Kentucky), some just need one or two returners to step up and fill a void (Pitt, Nova, Florida, Gonzaga).
Washington's experience last season is all the evidence you need of that: the Huskies started the season ranked 13th and found themselves out of the Top 25 by Week 9.