Arizona moves up to fifth in newest AP Poll, sixth in Coaches Poll
Feb 13, 2017, 11:20 AM
Arizona guard Kadeem Allen drives on California guard Stephen Domingo (31) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017, in Tucson, Ariz. Arizona defeated California 62-57. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
After getting dismantled by the Oregon Ducks 85-58 last Saturday, it would have seemed ludicrous to suggest that the Arizona Wildcats would rank higher than the Ducks in the national rankings one week later.
But that is the case, with Arizona moving up from ninth in the country to fifth in the newest AP poll and from 10th to sixth in the Coaches Poll, while Oregon moved down from fifth to seventh in the AP and sixth to eighth with the coaches.
The Wildcats took care of business this week, beating the Stanford Cardinal 74-67 Wednesday and the California Golden Bears 62-57 Saturday, while the Ducks lost to UCLA 82-79 Thursday.
The solid week allowed Arizona to leapfrog Oregon, Louisville, North Carolina and Wisconsin – all of whom suffered a loss last week – in both polls.
The 23-3 Wildcats now lead the Pac-12 with a 12-1 conference record and have won 17 of their past 18 games. Oregon and UCLA remain close behind with 11-2 and 10-3 Pac-12 records, respectively.
Arizona still trails Gonzaga, Villanova, Kansas and Baylor in the AP Poll, while also sitting behind UCLA in the Coaches Poll.
This bump comes just days after the NCAA Tournament selection committee ranked Arizona ninth in the country for their bracket preview Saturday.
