Arizona received its highest ranking of the season, No. 4 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, while appearing to make a jump to the No. 2 seed line in bracketing for the NCAA Tournament.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi had the Wildcats a No. 2 seed in the Midwest and CBS's Jerry Palm had them a No. 2 in the East, with both forecasting UA's pod to begin play in Salt Lake City.
Note, of course, that the Wildcats are still basically ranked behind Oregon, as per what the committee released on Feb. 11. The Ducks are projected to get a No. 2 in the West.
If that holds up, it would mean the difference between potentially getting to face Gonzaga in San Jose for an Elite Eight game versus playing (in the Midwest) Kansas in Kansas City or (in the East) playing Villanova in New York City. (The tourney sites are listed here).
UA's official RPI is No. 8, while the Wildcats are No. 20 in Sagarin and No. 21 in Kenpom.
Lauri Markkanen appears to have a good chance to win the Pac-12 Player of the Week award to be announced later today. Stephen Thompson Jr. led Oregon State to its first conference win of the season against Utah on Sunday but struggled against Colorado.
