After Arizona beat ASU and UCF, while then-No. 2 Iowa State lost twice last week, the Wildcats became a unanimous pick atop the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time.
Arizona (18-0) received all 61 first-place votes from a panel of media voters from across the country while UConn (18-1) moved into the second spot, with Michigan (16-1), Purdue (17-1) and Duke (17-1) rounding out the top five. Iowa State (16-2) dropped to No. 9.
The AP said it was Arizona's first time ever as a unanimous pick at No. 1, although the Wildcats have had several dominant periods atop the poll. Those included when they were a preseason No. 1 in 1997-98 after returning the vast majority of their 1997 national championship team, when they held the top spot for 13 weeks during the 2002-03 season, and when they held it for eight weeks during their 21-0 start in 2013-14.
This season, Arizona has held the top spot for six straight weeks since Dec. 8, two days after the Wildcats moved to 8-0 by beating Auburn 97-68 at McKale Center.
Other Arizona opponents in this week's poll include Texas Tech (14-4), which moved from 15 to 12; Florida (13-5), which jumped from 19 to 16; and Kansas (13-5), which stayed at No. 19.
Arizona is scheduled to host Cincinnati on Wednesday and West Virginia on Saturday before heading to 13th-ranked BYU (16-2) for a Big Monday showdown on Jan. 26.
Arizona forward Ivan Kharchenkov (8) finishes off a slam dunk during the first half against Kansas State during their Big 12 game, January 7, 2026, Tucson, Ariz.
FWIW, here was my AP ballot.
