Arizona back in top 10, GCU receives 1 vote in latest AP rankings
Feb 5, 2024, 4:18 PM
(L-R) Pelle Larsson #3 of the Arizona Wildcats, Caleb Love #2 and Keshad Johnson #16 celebrate a basket during the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at McKale Center on December 09, 2023 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
The Arizona Wildcats are back in the top 10 of the Associated Press top 25 poll after defending the McKale Center against Cal and Stanford last week.
The Wildcats climbed three spots to No. 8 following a fall out of the top 10 the week prior after splitting with the Oregon schools.
Arizona was never really threatened by Cal but had to mount a second-half comeback to take down Stanford, improving to 17-5 on the year.
The Wildcats head to the mountains this week for a Thursday contest at Utah and a Saturday night tip off against Colorado.
Lopes up
Grand Canyon is back on a roll with a four-game win streak since losing to Seattle on Jan. 20.
They received one vote in the latest poll.
The Antelopes avenged that loss on Thursday with a 95-88 overtime win in Phoenix before hitting the road to dismantle Utah Valley, 86-67, on Saturday.
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They have a week break before taking on Southern Utah next Saturday back in Phoenix.
GCU is 21-2 overall this season and a perfect 11-0 at home.
Best of the rest
Reigning national champion Connecticut, Purdue and North Carolina remained atop the poll for the third consecutive week, while South Carolina cracked the rankings for the first time in nearly seven years.
The Huskies earned 45 of 61 first-place votes to remain at No. 1 for the fourth straight week in Monday’s poll, while the Boilermakers topped the ballots of 16 other voters.
The top of the poll remained set after a big week that included four top-10 matchups over the weekend, with Purdue winning at Wisconsin and UNC beating rival Duke. The week also included Kansas beating Houston, which vaulted the Jayhawks up four spots to No. 4 and dropped the Cougars one spot to No. 5.
Tennessee fell one spot to No. 6 after losing at home to the now-No. 15 Gamecocks but followed that with a win at Kentucky in the weekend’s other top-10 tussle. The Wildcats tumbled seven spots to No. 17 after losses to the Vols and Florida.
Marquette, Arizona, Duke and Illinois rounded out the top 10.
Conference watch
The Big 12 led the country with six ranked teams, followed by the SEC with five. The Big Ten, Big East and Mountain West conferences were next with three. The Atlantic Coast Conference had two, while the Pac-12, Atlantic 10 and American Athletic conferences each had one.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
AP college basketball top 25 rankings – Feb. 5
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. UConn (44) | 20-2 | 1509 | 1 |
| 2. Purdue (17) | 21-2 | 1479 | 2 |
| 3. North Carolina | 18-4 | 1352 | 3 |
| 4. Kansas | 18-4 | 1322 | 8 |
| 5. Houston | 19-3 | 1273 | 4 |
| 6. Tennessee | 16-5 | 1211 | 5 |
| 7. Marquette | 17-5 | 1173 | 9 |
| 8. Arizona | 17-5 | 1077 | 11 |
| 9. Duke | 16-5 | 924 | 7 |
| 10. Illinois | 17-5 | 893 | 14 |
| 11. Wisconsin | 16-6 | 838 | 6 |
| 12. Auburn | 18-4 | 818 | 16 |
| 13. Baylor | 16-5 | 730 | 18 |
| 14. Iowa State | 16-5 | 700 | 12 |
| 15. South Carolina | 19-3 | 564 | – |
| 16. Alabama | 16-6 | 520 | 24 |
| 17. Kentucky | 15-6 | 513 | 10 |
| 18. Dayton | 18-3 | 493 | 21 |
| 19. Creighton | 16-6 | 484 | 13 |
| 20. Florida Atlantic | 18-4 | 431 | 20 |
| 21. BYU | 16-5 | 425 | 22 |
| 22. Utah State | 19-3 | 286 | 17 |
| 23. Texas Tech | 16-5 | 156 | 15 |
| 24. San Diego State | 17-5 | 141 | – |
| 25. New Mexico | 18-4 | 123 | 19 |
Others receiving votes: Saint Mary’s 73, TCU 72, Indiana St. 53, Boise St. 49, Colorado St. 43, Virginia 32, Texas 22, Oklahoma 17, Mississippi 10, Washington St 6, Memphis 5, Appalachian St. 4, Gonzaga 2, Grand Canyon 1, Michigan St. 1.
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