Arizona men’s basketball didn’t need long to establish itself in the eyes of AP voters.
Just one week into the season, the Wildcats have jumped to No. 5 in the AP Top 25 after beating reigning champion Florida last night Monday in Las Vegas.
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Arizona (2-0) entered the year ranked No. 13 with many writers considering Tommy Lloyd’s squad a tier behind the top national contenders for a Final Four. Not so after Arizona beat then No.3 Florida 93-87 in the season opener.
Arizona will have an opportunity for another ranked win this week when it faces No. 15 UCLA in Los Angeles on Friday night at Intuit Dome. UCLA fell three spots in this week’s rankings after an underwhelming season-opening win over Eastern Washington.
Before that, the Wildcats will host NAU Tuesday 7 p.m. at the McKale Center.
Arizona’s No. 5 ranking is its highest since March 2024, when the Wildcats were last ranked 5th.
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Arizona received 1,204 votes this week, just shy of No. 4 Duke with 1,223.
Houston jumped Purdue to claim the No. 1 ranking. The Boilermakers are No. 2, followed by UConn.
The Big 12 has six ranked teams: No. 1 Houston, No. 5 Arizona, No. 7 BYU, No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 16 Iowa State and No. 25 Kansas. Baylor, Kansas State and Oklahoma State received votes.