Arizona moved up one spot to No. 2 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday, setting up a potential 1-vs-2 showdown with No. 1 Purdue on Dec. 16 in Indianapolis.
The Wildcats and Boilermakers each rose one spot from last week after then-No. 1 Kansas lost to Marquette but beat Tennessee. That slipped Kansas to No. 5, while UConn rose to No. 4.
Purdue has a tougher path to stay undefeated before the semi-neutral site game with Arizona at Indianapolis, however. After hosting Texas Southern on Tuesday, Purdue will play at Northwestern on Friday and then face Iowa at home and Alabama in Toronto next week.
Arizona's only games before Dec. 16 are both at home, against Colgate on Saturday and against Wisconsin on Dec. 9, suggesting the Wildcats could rise to No. 1 if Purdue slips.
The No. 2 spot is the highest the Wildcats have been ranked under third-year coach Tommy Lloyd. They were also No. 2 for the final four weeks of the 2021-22 season -- the AP Poll ends before the NCAA Tournament -- and rose no higher than No. 4 last season (on Nov. 28 and Feb. 6).
Among other UA opponents this season, Duke moved from No. 9 to No. 7 after beating two low-major teams, Alabama dropped from No. 17 to 23 after losing to Ohio State but beating Oregon, and Florida Atlantic rose from No. 19 to 13 after winning three games.
After losing to Arizona on Thursday, Michigan State dropped from No. 21 out of the poll but the Spartans received the 31st most points in voting.
Colorado also dropped out from No. 18 after losing to Florida State and struggling with Iona at home. Of other Pac-12 teams, UCLA picked up the 33rd most points.
FWIW, here's the ballot I submitted to the AP.
