AP: Arizona eighth-best college basketball program in history
Apr 2, 2017, 9:30 AM
Arizona mascot "Wilbur" performs during the second half of a second-round college basketball game against Saint Mary's in the men's NCAA Tournament Saturday, March 18, 2017, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/George Frey)
(AP Photo/George Frey)
The Arizona Wildcats have long been a college basketball powerhouse.
In fact, the Wildcats have a 65.8 all-time win percentage, and the last time the team finished with a losing record was in the 1983-84 season, legendary head coach Lute Olson’s first year with the team.
The program has been so strong that the Associated Press ranked it as the eighth-best college basketball school in the AP Poll’s 68-year history, behind only Kentucky, North Carolina, Duke, UCLA, Kansas, Indiana and Louisville.
The methodology that determined this list of the top-100 schools consisted of adding one point for an appearance in the poll and two points for a No. 1 ranking.
Arizona accumulated 594 points by appearing in 45.41 percent (518) of all polls, despite not making a single appearance between the 1951-52 and 1973-74 seasons, the longest drought of any team in the top-10 according to the AP.
The Wildcats’ 37 No. 1 rankings are tied with Ohio State for eighth among the top 25 programs, behind UCLA (134), Duke (129), Kentucky (124), North Carolina (110), Kansas (65), Indiana (54) and Cincinnati (45).
They ranked first in polls over six seasons, including taking the final top ranking in 1988-89 and the preseason No. 1 spot in three others.
Arizona’s best decade came in the 1990s, when it missed only one week of polling, appearing in 99.44 percent of polls.
The Wildcats have had 10 players make an All-American team in their history. Sean Elliott is the only one to make it more than once.
The Arizona State Sun Devils join the Wildcats on the list, checking in at 79th on the list with 94 points, right behind the Duquesne Dukes and one spot ahead of the Auburn Tigers.
The Sun Devils own a 52.6 win percentage and have been ranked 94 times in the AP Poll, with their highest rankings being third in 1962-63 and 1980-81.
Ike Diogu and James Harden are the only Sun Devils to ever make an All-American team.
