Arizona Wildcats continue to fall in AP college rankings

The Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team continues to go the wrong way in The Associated Press’ top 25 released Monday.

The Wildcats came in ranked No. 24, down two spots from last week’s mark.

This marks the third straight week Arizona has fallen in the ranking after being as a high as No. 13 on Feb. 10.

Since then, the Wildcats have come in No. 19 (Feb. 17), No. 22 (Feb. 24) and now No. 24.

Arizona split a pair of games last week with an 83-66 win over Utah only to fall flat in an 84-67 loss to the then-No. 9 ranked Iowa State, which dropped a spot in Monday’s update ranking.

Arizona has two games left on its regular season schedule. It takes on a struggling Arizona State squad on Tuesday before wrapping things up against Kansas on Saturday.

The Wildcats (13-5 Big 12) are currently tied with Texas Tech for second in the Big 12 behind Houston (17-1).

Auburn still atop AP top 25 poll

The Associated Press — Auburn and Duke remain atop the AP Top 25. The rest of the poll was a big jumble.

Auburn was the unanimous pick at No. 1 for the second straight week, receiving all 61 votes from a media panel in the poll released on Monday. The Tigers held the top spot for the eighth straight week following lopsided wins over Ole Miss and then-No. 17 Kentucky.

Duke was No. 2 for the second straight week after blowing out Miami and Florida State despite playing without guard Tyrese Proctor due to a bone bruise in his left knee.

No. 3 Houston moved up a spot after beating Texas Tech and Cincinnati, while Tennessee climbed to No. 4 following Jahmai Mashack’s last-second 3-pointer from well beyond halfcourt to beat Alabama 79-76.

Florida rounded out the top five, dropping two places after losing to Georgia and beating Texas A&M.

No. 8 Michigan State joined Auburn and Duke as the only teams to have the same ranking as last week.

Rising Red Storm

St. John’s has pulled off quite the turnaround in its second season under coach Rick Pitino.

The Red Storm (26-4, 17-2Big East) have not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2019, but are pretty much a lock to end the drought after clinching their first Big East regular-season title in 40 years with Saturday’s 71-61 win over Seton Hall.

“We’re just getting started,” Pitino told the Madison Square Garden crowd after the win.

St. John’s also beat Butler last week and moved up a spot in this week’s poll to No. 6, its highest ranking reaching No. 5 in 1990-91.

Rising and falling

No. 14 Louisville made the biggest move of the week, climbing five places following wins over Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh. No. 13 Maryland moved up three places after losing to Michigan State by three on Tre Holloman’s last-second heave from beyond midcourt and beating Penn State.

No. 22 Texas A&M had by far the biggest drop, losing 10 places after losing to Vanderbilt and Florida, stretching its losing streak to four straight.

No other team dropped more than two places.

The Associated Press’ top 25 men’s college basketball rankings — March 3

Others receiving votes: VCU 85, Vanderbilt 78, Oregon 37, Drake 18, UC San Diego 17, Illinois 16, Mississippi 13, UCLA 8, Gonzaga 8, Kansas 5, High Point 4, UConn 4, New Mexico 2, Creighton 2, Akron 1.

Related

What tournament seed are the Wildcats eyeing with week left in regular season?No. 9 Iowa State survives late comeback effort from No. 22 ArizonaESPN finds a new way to mix up ASU's Tempe with Arizona's TucsonArizona's Tommy Lloyd shouts out Craig Smith's sons for showing up after father's firingRJ Godfrey signs with Arizona, expected to be Wildcats’ starting power forwardCourt rulings grant NCAA athletes from high school class of 2022 another year of eligibility