Arizona moves up in 1 national way too early top 25 after Brayen Burries commit

After the commitment of five-star combo guard Brayden Burries on Wednesday, Arizona moved up two spots in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 published by Gary Parrish. Parrish posted an article on Thursday titled "College basketball rankings: Arizona ticks up in Top 25 And 1 after securing another five-star commitment."

Parrish started off mentioning the commitment from Burries by stating Arizona can fill two starting spots next season with a pair of McDonald's All-Americans. Burries and five-star forward Koa Peat were both selected to the 2025 McDonald's All-American Game. Peat did not play in the McDonald's All-American game because of an injury.

Parrish continued by quoting Burries discussing why he chose Arizona during his commitment announcement on ESPN on Wednesday. Parrish projects point guard Jaden Bradley, Burries, Peat, power forward Tobe Awaka and center Motiejus Krivas as the Arizona starters in 2025-26.

Arizona also returns starter Anthony Dell'Orso in 2025-26. Parrish mentioned Bradley and Awaka combining to start 73 games for Arizona in 2024-26 on a Sweet 16 team but Krivas played only eight games before suffering a season-ending leg (more specifically, ankle) injury.

Parrish closed his section about Arizona, stating he moved the Wildcats up to number six in version three of the 2025-26 CBS Sports preseason Top 25 and 1. Houston, Duke, Purdue, Connecticut and UCLA are the only teams ranked ahead of Arizona in the Top 25 and 1 Preseason Top 25.

The Big XII should be loaded again next season. After Arizona and BYU advanced to the regional semifinals, Texas Tech was a few minutes away from the Final Four versus Florida and Houston was less than a minute away from beating the Gators for the national championship. Parrish has six Big XII teams in his Top 25 and One.

Iowa State is eighth. Texas Tech is 13th, BYU is 18th and Kansas 19th. BYU should move up after signing Baylor transfer guard Robert Wright on Thursday. Arizona now knows what to expect in the Big XII and has a good corps returning for the 2024-25 season with a top-five freshman class upgrading the Wildcats' talent.