Arizona's 85-57 win over Stanford pushed the Wildcats to the top rating in the NCAA's NET ratings on Friday, leapfrogging UA ahead of coach Tommy Lloyd's former team at Gonzaga.
On Thursday, the Zags beat San Francisco at home while the Wildcats' win came in a road game over a Stanford team with three previous Quadrant 1 wins.
Sagarin has the rankings flipped, with Gonzaga No. 1 and Arizona No. 2, while Kenpom has the Wildcats No. 3 behind No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 2 Baylor.
Regardless of what the computers think, the Wildcats are also getting more momentum with humans. They moved up to No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday and have been drawing more praise.
Cal coach Mark Fox, whose team will be hosting the Wildcats on Sunday, said during a media Zoom call Friday that Arizona is a "bona fide" contender to win it all this season.
"They may have a chance to be one of the best teams in America which is to Tommy's credit," Fox said. "He's been able to keep everybody on board.
"I think their strengths are are numerous. They have length at the rim that is advantageous for them both on offense and defense. They have a lottery pick on the wing (Bennedict Mathurin), who is a matchup nightmare for just about every team and then they have great guard play and and the ability to shoot the 3.
"So they're a terrific team. Their offense and their passing gets a lot of a lot of compliments as it should. I think their defense is being overlooked because their offense is so great and I think their defense helps create a lot of their offense. They are a bona fide contender for the national championship."
No word yet from UA on how forward Azuolas Tubelis is doing after spraining his left ankle Thursday night at Stanford. Tubelis did not sit on the bench in the second half, indicating he might have been undergoing X-rays or other supplemental examinations, and Lloyd said he wasn't award Tubelis had left the bench.
"It was significant enough that he couldn't come back today," Lloyd said Thursday. "We'll see what it looks like tomorrow."
Lloyd said Thursday he didn't know if Tubelis would be able to play Sunday.
