Arizona Wildcats forward Ira Lee (11) finishes off a monster jam during the second half.

Arizona's 4-0 start in Pac-12 play is gaining the Wildcats some momentum in the national rankings and bracket forecasts.

UA and Washington both received eight votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, while the Wildcats are now rated No. 36 in Sagarin, No. 49 in Kenpom and No. 51 in NET.

Among Pac-12 teams, Washington (38) has the highest NET rating, followed by UA and Oregon State (71), while ASU has slipped to 83.

CBS Bracketology has Arizona as a No. 10 seed while ESPN Bracketology (not updated since Friday) has the Wildcats as a No. 11.


Oregon State, meanwhile, is making its case for a run at the Pac-12 title, showing depth and defense in a sweep of the Los Angeles schools.

And Oregon, which will visit McKale Center on Thursday for a 7 p.m., revived from its collapse against UCLA to drub USC.


OSU's Stephen Thompson Jr. picked up the Pac-12 Player of the Week award after averaging 25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 50 percent in the Beavers' sweep.

UA nominated Chase Jeter (16.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in wins at Stanford and Cal) while Stanford's KZ Okpala (25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 65.5 percent shooting against UA and ASU) and Washington's David Crisp (16.5 ppg, 64.3 3-point shooting in Utah-Colorado sweep) also had strong cases.


FWIW, this was my AP Top 25 ballot:

1 Duke

2 Michigan

3 Tennessee

4 Virginia

5 Gonzaga

6 Michigan State

7 Kansas

8 Texas Tech

9 Florida State

10 Nevada

11 North Carolina

12 Kentucky

13 Virginia Tech

14 Auburn

15 Marquette

16 Buffalo

17 N.C. State

18 Oklahoma

19 Iowa

20 Nebraska

21 Mississippi State

22 Villanova

23 Maryland

24 Indiana

25 Cincinnati


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