AP Poll Top 25: Arizona back in, ASU receives vote for 1st time this season

Both Arizona State and Arizona received love by voters in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll after both teams swept Cal and Stanford last week.

Arizona’s two wins vaulted the Wildcats back into the Top 25 with 102 points, good for the No. 24 spot in the rankings.

Arizona State received one vote in the Week 16 poll, its first time this season being recognized by the AP Top 25.

ASU is riding a five-game win streak in Pac-12 play, matching their season-best win streak when they won five non-conference games in a row from Nov. 26 to Dec. 14.

Oregon and Colorado also represented the Pac-12 in the poll. Oregon up-ended Colorado on Thursday in Eugene, vaulting Oregon to No. 14 and dropping Colorado to No. 18 in the latest poll.

Both teams sit atop the Pac-12 conference standings at 9-4, while both Arizona schools are right behind at 8-4.

Oregon tips off against both Arizona schools this week beginning in Tempe with ASU on Thursday and following up in Tucson against Arizona on Saturday.

Colorado takes on USC and UCLA this week at home.

IN AND OUT

BYU climbed into the poll at No. 23 after wins over Loyola Marymount and San Diego, and now faces Santa Clara on Thursday night before a showdown with the second-ranked Zags. The Cougars were followed by Arizona at No. 24 and Ohio State at No. 25, two teams that were in the poll earlier this season before dropping out.

Illinois plummeted out of the poll after losing to Michigan State and Rutgers. Texas Tech also dropped out along with LSU, which lost at Alabama during a brutal Saturday for the nation’s Top 25 teams.

CLIMBING AND FALLING

Creighton made the biggest leap this week, rising from No. 23 to 15th after beating then-No. 10 Seton Hall and DePaul. Penn State moved up four spots to crack the top 10 at No. 9, while Oregon climbed from No. 17 to 14 and Kentucky moved up two spots to round out the top 10.

Louisville’s weak week culminated in a drop of six places to No. 11, while Seton Hall also absorbed a pair of losses and fell to No. 16. West Virginia lost to Baylor and Kansas but was only penalized three places and remained No. 17.

MID-MAJOR WATCH

There are some intriguing mid-major programs poised to enter the Top 25 if there’s another week of upsets. Stephen F. Austin quietly improved to 22-3 and is one of the first teams out, while Northern Iowa (22-4), Utah State (21-7) and Rhode Island (19-6) are getting plenty of love from voters as March begins to bear down on the college basketball season.

College basketball AP Top 25

Record	Pts	Prv
1. Baylor (48)	23-1	1559	1
2. Gonzaga (14)	26-1	1518	2
3. Kansas (1)	22-3	1434	3
4. San Diego St.	26-0	1404	4
5. Dayton	23-2	1294	6
6. Duke	22-3	1285	7
7. Maryland	21-4	1194	9
8. Florida St.	21-4	1088	8
9. Penn St.	20-5	1024	13
10. Kentucky	20-5	1011	12
11. Louisville	21-5	837	5
12. Villanova	19-6	824	15
13. Auburn	22-3	818	11
14. Oregon	20-6	742	17
15. Creighton	20-6	718	23
16. Seton Hall	18-7	672	10
17. West Virginia	18-7	552	14
18. Colorado	20-6	501	16
19. Marquette	17-7	404	18
20. Iowa	18-8	254	21
21. Butler	19-7	242	19
22. Houston	20-6	237	20
23. BYU	21-7	188	—
24. Arizona	18-7	102	—
25. Ohio St.	17-8	95	—

Others receiving votes: Texas Tech 92, Michigan St. 87, Michigan 83, LSU 55, Rhode Island 39, Virginia 32, Cincinnati 14, Stephen F. Austin 14, Illinois 12, N. Iowa 9, Utah St. 8, Florida 6, Rutgers 6, ETSU 5, Saint Mary’s (Cal) 4, Richmond 3, Tulsa 3, New Mexico St. 2, SMU 2, Arizona St 1, Wright St. 1.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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