Published Dec 16, 2019
Arizona drops in AP poll, debuts in top 15 of first NET rankings
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Matt Moreno  •  GOAZCATS
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Arizona (10-2) dropped a tough matchup with Gonzaga Saturday night 84-80, but the loss didn't make too big of an impact on the Wildcats' ranking in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

Sean Miller's team dropped just one spot in the updated rankings as Arizona now sits at No. 16 overall. UA's only two losses have come against teams that are currently ranked in the top 10 with Baylor coming in at No. 10 this week while Gonzaga moved all the way up to No. 2 in the latest poll after its road victory in Tucson.

UA is one of three Pac-12 teams to make the rankings this week with Oregon moving up a couple spots to No. 8 in the new poll after beating previous No. 5-ranked Michigan on the road over the weekend.

Washington, which didn't play last week after previously losing to Gonzaga, remained idle at No. 22.

"We really came out playing well, but we lost to a better team than us at this moment," Miller said after Saturday's loss to Gonzaga. "How it all plays out three or four months from now we're not there yet, but you have to give credit to the opponent. I mean Mark Few and his staff, they're great at what they do. They really are. There's a reason they've had 20-plus years of success."

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Along with the AP rankings, the new NCAA NET rankings were released for the first time Monday morning and the Wildcats debuted at No. 15 on that list. The NET rankings will be used as one of the tools to select the NCAA Tournament field in March, so it is a ranking that holds plenty of importance.

It takes into account several different factors including strength of schedule, scoring margin, game location and of course the result among other factors.

The rankings will change throughout the season, but as of now the Wildcats are at the No. 2-spot among teams in the Pac-12 based on how the season has gone up to this point. Oregon, which is No. 8 in the AP poll, is currently ranked No. 17 in the NET rankings. Stanford, which is unranked in the AP poll, is at the top of the conference on the NET rankings list at No. 9.

UA's two losses have come against teams inside the top six of the NET rankings with Baylor sitting at No. 5 and Gonzaga at No. 6 on the list.

According to the NCAA, Arizona's best win this season came against Illinois at McKale Center. It is the lone victory on UA's schedule that is better than a Quadrant 3 or Quadrant 4 win. So far UA has gone 0-2 in Quadrant 1 matchups with losses to Baylor and Gonzaga, but the Wildcats will have more opportunities for quality wins the rest of the season.

Saturday's matchup with St. John's in San Francisco will be an opportunity for a Quadrant 2 win while the first three matchups of Pac-12 play are currently Quadrant 1 matchups.