AP Top 25: Arizona climbs, UCLA barely budges after second straight loss
Arizona re-entered the top five of the latest AP Top 25 media poll on Monday. Meanwhile, UCLA dropped only a smidge following a second straight loss.
Coming off a sweep of the Washington schools on the road, the Wildcats (19-3, 8-3 Pac-12) moved up one spot to No. 5 in the new poll.
The Bruins (17-4, 8-2 Pac-12) dropped just one spot to No. 9. It’s an indication of the way the voting public feels about coach Mick Cronin’s squad, even after blowing a 12-point halftime lead to USC and being outscored by 25 in the second half.
UCLA is still the highest-ranked Pac-12 team in the model-based power metrics. The Bruins sit No. 5 in the NET Rankings and No. 3 in KenPom. Conversely, Arizona is 10th and 12th in those respective models.
But Arizona has won four straight itself, including a 58-52 win over the Bruins last Saturday.
It’ll look to keep things going this week when Oregon and Oregon State come to town. The Ducks arrive at McKale Center on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. PT tip.
UCLA welcomes the Washington schools, with the Huskies coming to Westwood on Thursday for a 6 p.m. PT tip.
The rest of the Top 25 is below, with first-place votes in parenthesis:
- Purdue (62)
- Tennessee
- Houston
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Virginia
- Kansas State
- Kansas
- UCLA
- Texas
- Baylor
- Gonzaga
- Iowa State
- Marquette
- TCU
- Xavier
- Providence
- Saint Mary’s
- FAU
- Clemson
- Indiana
- San Diego State
- Miami (FL)
- UConn
- Auburn
Receiving votes: Missouri 74, Charleston 68, Illinois 56, Creighton 51, New Mexico 47, North Carolina 47, North Carolina State 39, Boise State 31, Duke 24, Rutgers 17, Texas A&M 16, Northwestern 13, Memphis 10, Arkansas 9, Pittsburgh 9, West Virginia 2, Nevada 2, Oral Roberts 2, Saint Louis 1