Arizona jumped nine spots all the way to to No. 3 in the first regular-season weekly Associated Press Top 25 poll after beating Duke 78-73 on Friday in North Carolina.
The Wildcats (2-0) were ranked No. 12 in the preseason poll after losing four starters from last season but adding veterans Keshad Johnson, Caleb Love and Jaden Bradley from the transfer portal along with three expected freshman rotation players.
Duke dropped from the No. 2 preseason spot in the AP poll to No. 9 while Michigan State, which will face Arizona on Nov. 23 in the Palm Springs area, dropped from No. 4 to No. 18 after losing to James Madison.
Among other teams the Wildcats will face in the nonconference season, Florida Atlantic (Dec. 23) stayed at No. 10 while Alabama (Dec. 20) dropped from 21 to 22.
Among Pac-12 teams, USC rose from 21 to 16 after beating Kansas State in Las Vegas while Colorado jumped in at No. 25 after receiving the 27th most points in voting for the preseason poll. UCLA received the 29th most points.
FWIW, I had Arizona at No. 5 (partly because Duke was only No. 6 on my preseason ballot). Here's the ballot I submitted to the AP this week:
1 Kansas
2 Purdue
3 Tennessee
4 UConn
5 Arizona
6 Houston
7 Marquette
8 Creighton
9 FAU
10 Arkansas
11 Baylor
12 Texas A&M
13 Michigan State
14 USC
15 Duke
16 Kentucky
17 Alabama
18 Gonzaga
19 Colorado
20 Miami
21 Virginia
22 North Carolina
23 Villanova
24 BYU
25 San Diego State
Arizona has nominated Kylan Boswell for Pac-12 Player of the Week and Motiejus Krivas for Freshman of the Week, with both awards scheduled to be announced Monday afternoon.
At Duke, Boswell had 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting, along with eight rebounds, five assists and one turnover. Counting UA's blowout win over Morgan State on Nov. 6, Boswell averaged 15.0 points while shooting 64.7% from the field, and a 3-1 assist-turnover ratio.
Boswell's top competition could be USC guard Isaiah Collier, who had 18 points, three rebounds, six assist (but six turnovers) in the Trojans' win over Kansas State in Las Vegas.
Collier appears likely to at least win the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award. Krivas averaged 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds for UA over the Morgan State and Duke games.
Arizona Basketball Press Conference | Tommy Lloyd | Postgame after 78-73 win at Duke | Nov. 10, 2023 (Arizona Athletics YouTube)
