The Arizona women’s basketball team pulled off a rare sweep over the weekend, and the Wildcats were rewarded for their accomplishment.
Arizona moved up five spots in the Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 released Monday, jumping from No. 22 to No. 17, after sweeping UCLA and USC. It was the Wildcats’ first road sweep of the L.A. schools since 2002. The Bruins fell from 14th to 18th.
Meanwhile, Pac-12 leader Stanford dropped from No. 2 to No. 6 after stumbling at Washington on Sunday. The Cardinal (22-3, 10-2 Pac-12) visit the Wildcats (18-5, 8-4) in a nationally televised game Thursday night. Stanford won the previous meeting, 73-57.
South Carolina still the one
South Carolina beat a top opponent to remain No. 1 in women’s poll and now has a showdown with another one looming this weekend.
The Gamecocks (23-0) topped then-No. 5 UConn 81-77 on Sunday to remain unbeaten and stay the unanimous choice atop the poll from the 28-member national media panel. After facing Auburn on Thursday, South Carolina will play No. 3 LSU on Sunday in a matchup of the last two unbeatens in Division I women’s college basketball.
Dawn Staley’s team has won 29 consecutive games and has been No. 1 in the poll for 33 consecutive weeks. That’s one week short of tying the Huskies for the third-longest streak atop the poll. Only UConn (51 weeks) and Louisiana Tech (36) have had longer runs at No. 1.
While South Carolina has had a stranglehold on No. 1 for more than a year, Indiana is making its first appearance ever at No. 2 after Stanford lost to Washington.
Indiana has won 10 straight since suffering its lone loss of the season to Michigan State. The Hoosiers have a tough stretch coming up, starting with a home game against No. 5 Iowa on Thursday. Indiana, which hadn’t been ranked higher than fourth before Monday, then plays No. 13 Ohio State and 12th-ranked Michigan.
Purdue still 1st despite lossPurdue’s unquestioned grip on No. 1 in AP men’s poll is gone after a weekend loss. That didn’t stop the Boilermakers from remaining at the top anyway.
The Boilermakers earned 38 of 62 first-place votes in the poll to remain at No. 1 for a third straight week and seventh time this season. Purdue was the unanimous choice last week, the first for any team this season, before falling at Indiana over the weekend for only its second loss.
The Boilermakers (22-2, 11-2) have a leading candidate for national player of the year in Zach Edey and KenPom’s No. 1-ranked offense (121.1 points scored per 100 possessions) to go with a top-25 defense. But they got down big, committed 16 turnovers and allowed the Hoosiers — up to No. 18 this week — to shoot nearly 53% in a 79-74 loss Saturday.
The loss meant Houston collected 22 first-place votes as it rose one spot to No. 2, followed by No. 3 Alabama and No. 4 Arizona in each claiming one.
With students back at UA for the fall semester, here's a look at the Tucson campus over the years compared to now.
