After earning its first NCAA Net Ratings quadrant one win of the season on Saturday at Cincinnati, Arizona moved into the top 20 of several metric rankings. The Wildcats are 16th in the NCAA Netratings, eighth in the ESPN Basketball Power Index and 16th in KenPom.
Arizona's victory over Cincinnati is its biggest win of the season. Cincinnati is 18th in the BPI, 32nd in the NET Ratings, and 28th in KenPom rankings. Arizona's next chance for a quad-one win is at West Virginia on Tuesday. West Virginia ranks 26th in the BPI, 45th in the NET Ratings, and 37th in KenPom.
Arizona somehow dropped one spot in the BPI after beating Cincinnati and moved up five places in the Net Ratings. The Wildcats will have an outside chance of being ranked when the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Polls are released on Monday. Gonzaga and Purdue were in both polls last week with four losses.
Arizona is 82nd in the BPI strength of record and 33rd in strength of schedule. Ken Pom ranks the Arizona SOS 24th nationally. Arizona is 6-1 in wins above bubble, 1-5 versus quad one, 1-0 (the win over TCU) versus quad two, 2-0 versus quad three and 4-0 against quad four this season.
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Most of Arizona's remaining games will be in quad one or two. Colorado, Utah, Kansas State and Oklahoma State are the only remaining teams on Arizona's schedule with a Net Rating below 66. The BPI projects Arizona to finish 19.4-11.6 with a 13.4-6.6 record, a 10.6 percent chance to win the Big XII and the 21st toughest SOS.
Playing in the Big XII will challenge Arizona significantly more than the Pac 12 did in basketball and give the Wildcats significantly more opportunities to improve their resume. That continues on Tuesday night at West Virginia. Arizona returns home on Saturday to host Central Florida.