Arizona basketball rises to No. 3 in latest AP rankings
Jan 17, 2022, 11:31 AM
Arizona Wildcats guard Kerr Kriisa (25) reacts after being called for a technical foul during a game between the Arizona Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers on Dec 22, 2021, at Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, TN. (Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
(Photo by Bryan Lynn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Arizona Wildcats are now the No. 3 team in the country in the latest Associated Press men’s college basketball rankings following two wins over conference opponents last week.
After a wild week in college basketball, the Wildcats are now the top team in the Pac-12 after No. 9 UCLA suffered an overtime loss to Oregon and No. 16 USC dropped two games.
Arizona had no issues securing two conference wins in the last week, beating both Colorado and Utah by double-digits in Tucson.
No.3 marks the Wildcats highest ranking in the poll since they rose to No. 2 in the 2017-18 season led by current Phoenix Suns center Deandre Ayton.
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There’s a new No. 1 this week in Gonzaga, following No. 5 Baylor dropping back-to-back games.
Baylor’s tenure at the top ended with losses to No. 18 Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. It was the first time the Bears lost consecutive home games in nearly six years and ended the reigning national champions’ winning streak at 21 games.
Auburn, Arizona and Purdue round out the top five. No. 2 is the highest ranking for Auburn since 1999-2000.
No. 16 Southern California saw its undefeated season come to a crashing end with losses to Stanford and Oregon sandwiched around a win over Oregon State.
The Big Ten and Big 12 had five ranked teams each, followed by the SEC and Big East with four each.
The Pac-12 had three ranked teams, with the ACC, American Athletic, West Coast and Missouri Valley notching one each.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
College basketball AP rankings
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Gonzaga | 14-2 | 1486 | 2 |
| 2. Auburn | 16-1 | 1482 | 4 |
| 3. Arizona | 14-1 | 1320 | 6 |
| 4. Purdue | 14-2 | 1255 | 7 |
| 5. Baylor | 15-2 | 1238 | 1 |
| 6. Duke | 14-2 | 1205 | 8 |
| 7. Kansas | 14-2 | 1192 | 9 |
| 8. Wisconsin | 14-2 | 1056 | 13 |
| 9. UCLA | 11-2 | 1041 | 3 |
| 10. Houston | 15-2 | 1036 | 11 |
| 11. Villanova | 13-4 | 908 | 14 |
| 12. Kentucky | 14-3 | 804 | 18 |
| 13. LSU | 15-2 | 738 | 12 |
| 14. Michigan State | 14-3 | 681 | 10 |
| 15. Iowa State | 14-3 | 665 | 15 |
| 16. USC | 14-2 | 618 | 5 |
| 17. Illinois | 13-3 | 521 | 25 |
| 18. Texas Tech | 13-4 | 509 | 19 |
| 19. Ohio State | 11-4 | 465 | 16 |
| 20. Xavier | 13-3 | 427 | 17 |
| 21. Providence | 14-2 | 350 | 23 |
| 22. Loyola Chicago | 13-2 | 193 | – |
| 23. Texas | 13-4 | 185 | 21 |
| 24. Tennessee | 11-5 | 98 | 22 |
| 25. Connecticut | 11-4 | 73 | – |
Others receiving votes: Iowa 56, BYU 50, Davidson 34, Alabama 26, San Diego State 25, Miami (FL) 21, Oregon 15, West Virginia 14, Colorado State 13, Texas A&M 10, Oklahoma 7, TCU 4, Indiana 2, North Carolina 2
