Arizona basketball falls to No. 24 in AP Top 25 ranking after loss
Dec 23, 2019, 1:25 PM
Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats reacts on the sidelines of the game against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at McKale Center on December 14, 2019 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
(Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images)
The Arizona Wildcats are in danger of falling out of the AP Top 25 ranking as the most recent update has Tucson’s hoops program ranked No. 24 overall.
The Wildcats have lost three of their last four games, suffering defeats to No. 18 Baylor, No. 6 Gonzaga and St. John’s in a span going back to Dec. 7. Their lone win in that stretch was a blowout 99-49 beating of Nebraska Omaha. After the Baylor loss, then-No. 12 Arizona fell to No. 15, then to No. 16 after the Gonzaga loss.
The St. John’s loss, 70-67, now has Arizona falling back eight spots.
The Wildcats sit between No. 23 Texas Tech and No. 25 Iowa. Gonzaga, which is one of the aforementioned teams to beat Arizona recently, is now No. 1 after being ranked No. 2 last week. Baylor is up to No. 7.
Arizona’s next game is against Arizona State in Tucson on Jan. 4.
The Wildcats’ slide in the rankings is despite having three elite freshmen on the roster in Nico Mannion, Josh Green and Zeke Nnaji. Mannion was the No. 9-ranked recruit in the nation this past class, the No. 1 point guard in the nation and the No. 1 recruit in Arizona, according to 247Sports.
Here is an updated top 25 from Monday:
1. Gonzaga (13-1)
2. Ohio State (11-1)
3. Louisville (11-1)
4. Duke (10-1)
5. Kansas (9-2)
6. Oregon (10-2)
7. Baylor (9-1)
8. Auburn (11-0)
9. Memphis (10-1)
10. Villanova (9-2)
11. Michigan (9-3)
12. Butler (11-1)
13. Maryland (10-2)
14. Michigan State (9-3)
15. San Diego State (12-0)
16. Virginia (9-2)
17. Florida state (10-2)
18. Dayton (9-2)
19. Kentucky (8-3)
20. Penn state (10-2)
21. Washington (9-2)
22. West Virginia (10-1)
23. Texas Tech (8-3)
24. Arizona (10-3)
25. Iowa (9-3)
