College basketball rankings: Arizona ranked 8th in AP and coaches polls

Back in the top ten

After a couple more home wins, and a bunch of teams in front of them losing, the Arizona Wildcats have climbed up the polls a little bit, and are back in the top ten....8th specifically.

Here's a look at the full AP and Coaches polls:

AP Poll

RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Michigan State Spartans (64)	12-0	1,623
2	Kansas Jayhawks (1)	9-1	1,537
3	Oklahoma Sooners	8-0	1,495
4	Maryland Terrapins	10-1	1,428
5	Virginia Cavaliers	9-1	1,350
6	Xavier Musketeers	11-0	1,287
7	North Carolina Tar Heels	9-2	1,215
8	Arizona Wildcats	11-1	1,056
9	Butler Bulldogs	9-1	947
10	Providence Friars	11-1	911
11	Iowa State Cyclones	9-1	907
12	Kentucky Wildcats	9-2	856
13	Miami-Florida Hurricanes	9-1	851
14	Purdue Boilermakers	11-1	833
15	Duke Blue Devils	9-2	809
16	Louisville Cardinals	9-1	652
17	Villanova Wildcats	8-2	649
18	SMU Mustangs	9-0	628
19	West Virginia Mountaineers	9-1	470
20	George Washington Colonials	10-1	366
21	Texas A&M Aggies	9-2	327
22	Cincinnati Bearcats	10-2	315
23	Baylor Bears	8-2	141
24	Utah Utes	9-2	107
25	South Carolina Gamecocks	10-0	87
Others receiving votes: UCLA 49, Connecticut 46, Oregon 34, Gonzaga 33, Colorado 27, Dayton 17, Pittsburgh 16, Northern Iowa 15, Arkansas-Little Rock 14, Vanderbilt 8, Monmouth 6, Iowa 5, Texas 3, Florida 3, Northwestern 2

USA Today Coaches Poll

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	1st	PREV
1	Michigan St	12-0	773	29	1
2	Oklahoma	8-0	718	2	3
3	Kansas	9-1	716	0	5
4	Maryland	10-1	687	0	7
5	Virginia	9-1	646	0	9
6	Xavier	11-0	603	0	10
7	North Carolina	9-2	520	0	11
8	Arizona	11-1	517	0	12
9	Iowa St.	9-1	506	0	2
10	Duke	9-2	455	0	6
11	Kentucky	9-2	441	0	4
12	Butler	9-1	410	0	18
13	Purdue	11-1	378	0	8
14	Providence	11-1	376	0	14
15	Louisville	9-1	371	0	16
16	Miami-Florida	9-1	323	0	19
17	Villanova	8-2	310	0	13
18	West Virginia	9-1	301	0	16
19	Texas A&M	9-2	169	0	24
20	George Washington	10-1	159	0	22
21	Cincinnati	10-2	153	0	20
22	Baylor	8-2	122	0	14
23	South Carolina	10-0	77	0	25
24	Gonzaga	8-3	59	0	21
25	Vanderbilt	7-3	45	0	23
Others Receiving Votes: Connecticut 38; Utah 35; Pittsburgh 34; Colorado 31; UCLA 22; Oregon 18; Notre Dame 15; Dayton 10; California 8; Arkansas-Little Rock 8; Northern Iowa 5; Texas 5; Florida 4; Indiana 3; Iowa 2; Monmouth 2.

For the most part, Arizona has looked extremely impressive since halftime of the Gonzaga game, so it's not surprise that they would benefit from a bunch of other top teams losing in the past week. They are ranked as high as 6th on four AP ballots, and as low as 16th on three according to College Poll Tracker.

I find it interesting that the rest of the Pac-12 is so bunched together right around the 25th spot. Utah, Colorado, UCLA, Oregon and even Cal could all jump up into the rankings (Utah is 24th in the AP).

Arizona only plays one game over the next two weeks (Long Beach State on Tuesday) as the Wildcats head into their holiday break. So it's looking like they will start 2016 as a top-ten team in the country.

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