AP All-Time Top 100 ranks Arizona Basketball in the Top 10

AP All-Time Top 100 came out last week, and Arizona Basketball landed in the Top 10!

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For 68 years the Associated Press (AP) has been ranking NCAA basketball teams. They have ranked over 200 schools, and in those rankings, there have been 59 different schools ranked as No. 1 in the nation, Saint Louis was the inaugural school ranked at the top. Last week the AP released their AP All-Time Top 100 schools in college basketball.

Keep in mind that this year’s poll was taken before the NCAA tournament started.  According to their site, this is how they determined the all-time Top 100, “The AP formula counted poll appearances (one point each) to mark consistency and No. 1 rankings (two points each) to acknowledge elite programs.”

Of the Top 10 schools ranked in this All-Time Top 100 poll, only North Carolina (Ranked No. 2 in the poll) is left in the tournament at the time of this post. Which school do you think got top honors? This team has 1,111 points and has been ranked No. 1 124 times. You probably guessed it, if it wasn’t North Carolina, and it wasn’t Duke (Ranked No. 3), so it must be those other Wildcats from Kentucky, right? Right.

After No. 1 Kentucky with 1,111 points, North Carolina came in at No. 2 with 1,098, Duke No. 3 (1,032), No. 4 UCLA (957), No. 5 Kansas (852), No. 6 Indiana (652) and No. 7 Louisville (627). Arizona follows that long list, coming in at No. 8:

"ARIZONA (594 Points)"

"Total appearances:45.41% of all pollsFirst appearance: Feb. 7, 1950No.1 ranking: 37Best full decade: 1990s, appeared in 99.44% of polls, missing only one weekly poll during the decade.Worst full decade: 1960s, didn’t appear in a single poll.Poll point: The Wildcats didn’t appear in a single AP poll over a 22-season period that started with 1951-52 and ended when ranked again in the 1973-1974 season, the longest poll drought of any team in the All-Time Top 10."

In contrast, Arizona landed at No. 4 in the final AP Top 25 poll which is quite impressive. The two teams that made it to the NCAA finals were both ranked in the top 10, with North Carolina ranked just below Arizona at No. 5 and the Zags at No. 2.

Let’s face facts, Arizona had a fantastic season, and the Cats aren’t the only team to lose in the tournament by a basket or less. Oregon lost in the final four by one measly point to North Carolina, and Arizona beat Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament. In fact, two of Arizona’s five losses in the season came at the hands of two of four of the Final Four teams.

Oh yeah, and Arizona beat a 2017 Final Four team…let’s relive that, shall we?

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Well, Wildcats fans we will have to wait a bit longer for a Final Four and/or a National Championship, but when the Cats finally make it back to the most prestigious level of the best tournament in the world, it will be worth the wait. Bear Down! And good luck, patience is a virtue. Next season, we have commits who have their sites on the prize!