Arizona basketball rises in AP, coaches rankings after win over Gonzaga
Dec 7, 2015, 12:42 PM | Updated: 12:45 pm
Arizona's Gabe York (1) looks to pass while defended by Gonzaga's Eric McClellan (23) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)
(AP Photo/Young Kwak)
Following a gutsy 68-63 road victory at Gonzaga, the Arizona Wildcats have risen back up the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches polls this week.
Arizona basketball sits 12th in the USA Today Coaches poll and 13th in the AP rankings this week.
The Wildcats hadn’t fallen far in the eyes of coaches following a loss to Providence just more than a week ago and last week were ranked 14th. Meanwhile, Associated Press writers had Arizona ranked 19th before Sean Miller’s team moved to 7-1 on the season with the victory against the Zags.
With two solid victories in a row against Boise State and Gonzaga, Arizona moves forward with a series of five straight games in McKale Center before it heads to Tempe to face rival ASU on Jan. 3. And if Arizona wants to do itself more favors in the eyes of the pollsters, it has the opportunity with several strong opponents upcoming.
Fresno State (6-2) is up next on Wednesday, and while the Bulldogs are coming off a disappointing loss to Cal Poly, they played ranked Pac-12 foe Oregon well in a five-point loss earlier in the year.
Arizona also plays Missouri, Northern Arizona, a battle-tested Long Beach State team and a rising UNLV team before facing off against the Sun Devils, who themselves upset No. 18 Texas A&M this weekend.
