Arizona Wildcats sit atop The Associated Press Top 25 men’s college basketball poll, rising to No. 1 in Monday’s poll for the first time in nearly nine years. This makes Tommy Lloyd’s squad the third team to hold the top spot this season following last week’s No. 1 team, Purdue, after an overtime loss at Northwestern.
Arizona claimed 59 of 63 first-place votes to move up one spot, putting the Wildcats comfortably ahead of preseason No. 1 Kansas, which rose three spots to No. 2 with a win against last season’s NCAA champion, Connecticut.
It has been nearly eight years since Arizona was No. 1 in the AP Top 25, making Lloyd’s dream to make the program one of the best in the country a reality. Houston rose three spots to No. 3, while the Boilermakers fell to fourth after the Northwestern loss. UConn slid only one spot to No. 5 after the loss at Kansas, followed by Baylor.
THE TOP TIER
Gonzaga and North Carolina cracked the top 10 for the first time this season, and the Bulldogs jumped four spots to No. 7 after a neutral-court win against USC. The Tar Heels jumped eight spots for a No. 9 ranking after beating Tennessee in the ACC/SEC Challenge, followed by a home comeback win against Florida State. The Tar Heels’ leap marked the week’s biggest jump, though No. 13 Colorado State also rose seven spots on the strength of its 8-0 start. In all, 14 teams climbed from last week’s poll.
SLIDING
Duke took the biggest tumble of the week of 15 spots to land at No. 22 after a pair of road losses against unranked opponents. No. 15 Miami, No. 17 Tennessee, and No. 21 Texas A&M each fell seven spots.
WELCOME ABOARD
Three teams joined this week’s rankings. Wisconsin jumped in at No. 23 after beating then-No. 3 Marquette at home, pushing the Badgers to five straight wins. Clemson followed at No. 24 amid a 7-0 start, while San Diego State is back in the poll at No. 25 for the first time since sitting at No. 17 in the preseason.
FAREWELL (FOR NOW)
Villanova (No. 18), Mississippi State (No. 21) Alabama (No. 23) fell out of the poll.
CONFERENCE WATCH
The Big 12 led all conferences with six ranked teams, including No. 12 Texas and No. 14 BYU. The ACC was next with four teams, followed by the Big Ten, Big East, and Southeastern conferences with three each. The Mountain West Conference had two ranked teams, while the Pac-12, American Athletic, Sun Belt, and West Coast each had one.
