The Arizona women's basketball team fell three places in The Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday, dropping from No. 19 to No. 22.
The slide was not surprising after the Wildcats (16-5, 6-4 Pac-12) stumbled against unranked Washington State on Sunday, losing 70-59 at McKale Center.
It doesn't get any easier from here for Arizona, which visits No. 14 UCLA and USC this week before hosting No. 2 Stanford a week from Thursday.
Ohio State tumbles
It was a rough week for Ohio State, which lost all three of its games and tumbled down the AP Top 25 as a result.
The previously unbeaten Buckeyes fell from second to 10th in women's basketball poll after losing to Iowa and Indiana, two top-10 teams, as well as Purdue. Ohio State fell two games back in the Big Ten Conference standings.
South Carolina remained No. 1 for the 32nd consecutive week. The Gamecocks, who were again a unanimous choice from the 28-member national media panel, have the fourth-longest streak ever atop the poll. Only UConn (51 and 34 weeks) and Louisiana Tech (36) have had longer runs at No. 1.
Stanford moved back up to No. 2 in the poll. The Cardinal were followed by LSU, Indiana and UConn in the top five. LSU is the only other undefeated team in women's basketball besides South Carolina, which visits UConn for a top-five showdown Sunday.
Purdue unanimous No. 1
Purdue became this season's first unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll after wins over Michigan and Michigan State last week as chaos ensued behind the Boilermakers among other ranked teams.
More than half the Top 25 teams lost, including second-ranked Alabama, which was routed by Oklahoma in the Big 12-SEC Challenge. That allowed Purdue to grab the remaining No. 1 votes and tighten its grip atop the poll, while Tennessee jumped two spots to second and Houston held onto third in voting by 62 national media members.
The Boilermakers (21-1) have won eight straight since a one-point loss to Rutgers on Jan. 2.
βWe're the No. 1 team in the country because of how unselfish we are as a team,β Purdue guard David Jenkins Jr. said. βWe had a lot of people doubting us in the beginning because, you know, we may not be the most talented team or whatever. But we're close on the court and off the court, and it's really translating to how we're winning.β
The Volunteers climbed to their highest perch since reaching No. 1 for four weeks during the 2018-19 season. They routed Georgia before becoming one of three SEC teams to beat Big 12 opponents on Saturday, knocking off No. 10 Texas 82-71 for their fifth consecutive win over a top-10 team.
The Crimson Tide dropped to fourth after the blowout loss to the Sooners. The Tide edged fifth-ranked Arizona by just two points in this week's poll.
McKale Center was built at the University of Arizona in the early 1970s. There have been updates through the years.
