Texas Tech ended the seven-game Arizona winning streak with a 70-54 win in Lubbock on Saturday. Despite the loss, Arizona continues to receive Top 25 votes. The Wildcats are seventh (or 28th) in the Associated Press Top 25 under others receiving votes and 36th or 11th under others receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Arizona received 21 points in the Associated Press Top 25. Texas Tech with 104 points, Utah St. with 38, Vanderbilt with 35, Gonzaga with 34 and Georgia and Clemson with 30 points are the only teams who are not ranked in the top 25 to receive more points than Arizona.
Arizona received six points in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Louisville and Gonzaga with 43 points each were the first teams left out of the Top 25 in the Coaches Poll. Maryland with eight points and Creighton with seven were the teams directly in front of Arizona in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Arizona is 1-0 over the teams in the AP Top 25 with a 75-56 win at West Virginia earlier this month. The Wildcats are 1-1 versus the USA Today Coaches Poll Top 25. Texas Tech is 25th in the USA Today Coaches Poll. There are four Big XII teams ranked in the AP Top 25 and five in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Here's where things shake out for #Big12MBB in this week's @AP_Top25 🏀 pic.twitter.com/2mEgDa6dIh
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) January 20, 2025
Arizona plays at Oklahoma State on Tuesday and versus Colorado on Saturday in a pair of games they will be significantly favored. The next big test for Arizona is on January 27 versus Kansas. Arizona will play three games in seven days. Iowa State is third in the AP Top 25 and fourth in the USA Today Coaches Poll.
Despite Arizona not being ranked in the top 25 in the polls, the Wildcats are well-regarded by the metrics. Arizona is eighth in the ESPN Basketball Power Index, 16th in Ken Pom and 14th in the NCAA Net Ratings. The Bracket Matrix which is a consensus of projected NCAA Tournament brackets lists Arizona as a six seed.