Arizona Basketball lands just outside the AP Top 25 preseason ranking

The 2021-22 Arizona Basketball season is just around the corner and with the AP Top 25 ranking being released, the Wildcats just missed the cut.

It is nearing the end of October, which naturally means that Arizona Basketball will soon be taking to the court again to kick off the 2021-22 season.

Coming in, there is plenty of build-up and hype surrounding the Wildcats as Arizona returns a large core of talent from a team that was essentially a tournament-caliber team last season.

But beyond that, everyone is also curious to see how head coach Tommy Lloyd does in his first year as not only a head coach but as head coach of the Wildcats.

So far, the expectations of the Wildcats have mostly been mixed, but most experts still expect Arizona to finish in the top half of the conference. Arizona is likely to even return to the NCAA Tournament, barring no setbacks from the NCAA or the IARP.

And with the season around the corner, the AP released its preseason Top 25 ranking, and just missing the cut was Arizona Basketball.

The College Basketball season is nearly here, so naturally, that means it is time to release the preseason rankings. Well on Monday, the AP’s Top 25 rankings came out, and not surprisingly, Arizona was not on the list.

However, coming in just outside the Top 25 at 29, and receiving 26 votes were our Wildcats.

Also appearing on the list from the Pac-12 were UCLA (2) and Oregon (13). USC missed the cut as well, coming in just ahead of the Wildcats at 28 while receiving 30 votes.

Arizona will have plenty of opportunities to jump into the Top 25 this season too as the Wildcats will face off with either Michigan (No. 6) or UNLV Nov. 21, at No. 11 Illinois Dec. 11, and at No. 18 Tennessee Dec. 22.

The Wildcats will have several opportunities to strengthen their resume before they take on a talented Pac-12 this year.