Arizona moved up in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, and thanks to several losses by top teams last week the Wildcats have reached a level they haven't been at in over four years. The Wildcats (14-1, 4-0 Pac-12) are now at No. 3 overall in the poll after moving up three spots from No. 6.

UA wrapped up a home sweep of the Mountain schools with an 82-64 win over Utah on Saturday night pushing the team's winning streak to three games. The Wildcats are now set to begin a three-game road trip that will start in the Bay Area against Stanford and Cal before culminating in a much-anticipated matchup against UCLA.

An overtime loss to Oregon last week dropped the Bruins down to No. 9 from No. 3 in this week's poll. USC's two losses last week also meant a drop down the list for the Trojans as well. Those two defeats cost USC 11 spots in the poll as the Trojans now sit at No. 16 on the list.

Arizona has been part of the top 10 since moving to No. 8 back on Dec. 13. Since then it has been a steady climb up the list resulting in the move to No. 3. The last time UA was ranked as high as it is now was back in November 2017 in the first poll of the regular season that year.

Since late in 2014, the Wildcats have only been ranked as high as No. 3 just twice.

The Wildcats have continued to make noise in Tommy Lloyd's first season as head coach. The team's lone victory came on the road in December against Tennessee, which is currently ranked 24th.

UA holds a win over current-No. 17 Illinois.

As Lloyd's team reaches its new best ranking, he wants to keep his team in line and hungry to continue playing well. To motivate his group he called upon a phrase often mentioned by the top college football coach.

"As Nick Saban would say, rat poison," Lloyd said after Saturday's win over Utah when asked about the possibility of UA moving into the top three in AP Top 25 poll. "Rat poison. This team is just sitting around everyone is telling them how good they are. They gotta understand what makes them good. What makes them good is when they're edgy, they got a chip on their shoulder.

"They play incredibly hard. Attention to detail. They take care of the ball. I feel like we've just slipped a little bit in those areas, and we gotta fight to get them back."

UA's matchup with Stanford is set to tip off at 9 p.m. MST Thursday night at Maples Pavilion.

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