For the first time in seven years, the Pac-12 is without a representative in the Associated Press Top 25 poll.
ASU dropped out Monday after losing at home to Princeton on Saturday, though the Sun Devils were the top vote-getter among the unranked teams.
Thanks in large part to Arizona, the Pac-12 has been represented every week in the Top 25 since 2011-12. The Wildcats dropped out in the third week that season, finishing in the NIT, and Cal dropped out a week later. UCLA was the only other conference team making the poll that year, and only for a week.
Last season, ASU jumped in at the same time that Arizona dropped out following its 0-for-3 Battle 4 Atlantis performance. Similarly, when Oregon dropped out on Dec. 3 this year, ASU jumped in and remained until Monday.
UCLA made Steve Alford's firing official and put Murry Bartow in charge as interim head coach. The L.A. Times cited the "increasingly poisonous environment surrounding UCLA's flagship program," while ESPN said Alford lived in his own world until the end.
The change in a UCLA coach always has important recruiting implications for Arizona.
On my AP ballot, I dropped ASU to the group of five just outside the poll. This was the hardest decision of the week, since the Sun Devils have two big wins (Kansas and Mississippi State) and two forgivable losses (at Vanderbilt and to Nevada in Los Angeles).
Still, the loss to Princeton means the Sun Devils' overall profile sits below the other two three-loss teams I have in: North Carolina and Wisconsin, both of which also have important wins and have not lost at home.ย
Here's how I voted:
1 Duke
2 Michigan
3 Kansas
4 Tennessee
5 Virginia
6 Nevada
7 Gonzaga
8 Michigan State
9 Florida State
10 Ohio State
11 Kentucky
12 North Carolina
13 Auburn
14 Texas Tech
15 Virginia Tech
16 Mississippi State
17 N.C. State
18 Kansas state
19 Nebraska
20 Marquette
21 Wisconsin
22 Iowa
23 Houston
24 Buffalo
25 Indiana
