While it means little heading into the NCAA Tournament, the Arizona Wildcats jumped back into the Associated Press Top 25 on Monday at No. 21.
The Wildcats on Sunday rated No. 16 overall in the NCAA's official seed list, meaning they received the final No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament field. Arizona will face 13th-seed Akron (28-6) in a first-round game on Friday in Seattle.
Arizona (22-12) had fallen out last week after losing 83-76 at Kansas on March 8 but then beat Kansas and Texas Tech in Kansas City to reach the championship game of the Big 12 tournament. They lost 72-64 to Houston in the final but the Cougars are a No. 1 tournament seed and ranked No. 2 behind Duke.
Arizona also fell out of the Top 25 on Dec. 2 after going 1-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis over Thanksgiving week. The Wildcats resurfaced in the poll on Feb. 3 and spent five weeks in it before dropping out Monday.
Overall this season, the Wildcats spent 10 weeks out of the poll and 10 weeks in it, counting their No. 10 preseason ranking.
The AP poll will not be conducted again until after the NCAA Tournament.
