AP College Basketball Poll 2021: Complete Week 8 Rankings Released

It is still Gonzaga's world, and the rest of men's college basketball is living in it at this point of the 2020-21 season.  

Gonzaga remained atop the Associated Press Top 25 that was released Monday following blowout wins over BYU and Portland this past week. The Bulldogs are 10-0 overall and 3-0 in WCC play and already have victories over Kansas, West Virginia, Iowa and Virginia on their sparkling resume. 

Here is a look at the rest of the rankings as conference play heats up:

1. Gonzaga

2. Baylor

3. Villanova

4. Texas

5. Iowa

6. Kansas

7. Michigan

8. Creighton

9. Wisconsin

10. Tennessee

11. Houston

12. Clemson

13. West Virginia

14. Illinois

15. Texas Tech

16. Louisville

17. Missouri

18. Virginia

19. Duke

20. Virginia Tech

21. Ohio State

22. Oregon

23. Minnesota

24. Saint Louis

25. Connecticut

There were a number of notable results outside of Gonzaga during the past week of college basketball, including victories for both Iowa and Michigan over Minnesota.

The Golden Gophers were No. 16 in the last batch of rankings, but life in the gauntlet of the Big Ten comes fast. There are six teams from the conference in the latest poll, and it would not be a stretch to suggest almost half of the Sweet 16 could come from the Big Ten depending on seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Rutgers faced a similar fate as Minnesota this week, as it entered at No. 15 but lost games to Michigan State and Ohio State.

Perhaps the biggest result of the week came when Texas defeated West Virginia on an Andrew Jones three-pointer in the final seconds that kept the Longhorns near the top of the rankings:

The Big 12 will be under the spotlight during the coming week of games with West Virginia facing Baylor and Texas Tech playing both Texas and Baylor. The Red Raiders will have a golden opportunity to propel themselves up the rankings with those two showdowns but, much like Minnesota and Rutgers, could also tumble facing difficult competition.

Elsewhere, Wisconsin plays Michigan, Michigan State plays Iowa, Duke plays Virginia Tech and Virginia plays Clemson this week.

With so many marquee games on the slate, the next set of rankings is sure to look different, even if Gonzaga remains the constant on top.