Arizona falls to No. 13 in AP Poll

The Wildcats drop four spots after losing to Washington

After splitting the Washington trip, the Arizona Wildcats have fallen from No. 9 to No. 13 in the AP Poll.

Arizona routed Washington 100-72 on Wednesday in Pullman, but lost on a buzzer-beating 3 to the Washington Huskies on Saturday.

The Wildcats are the only Pac-12 team in the Top 25 now, as Arizona State has dropped out after splitting the Washington trip. The Sun Devils are just 5-6 since the start of conference play.

Here is the new AP Poll in its entirety:

1. Villanova Wildcats (48)
2. Virginia Cavaliers (16)
3. Purdue Boilermakers (1)
4. Michigan State Spartans
5. Xavier Musketeers
6. Cincinnati Bearcats
7. Texas Tech Red Raiders
8. Auburn Tigers
9. Duke Blue Devils
10. Kansas Jayhawks
11. Saint Mary’s Gaels
12. Gonzaga Bulldogs
13. Arizona Wildcats
14. Ohio State Buckeyes
15. Tennessee Volunteers
16. Clemson Tigers
17. Oklahoma Sooners
18. Rhode Island Rams
19. West Virginia Mountaineers
20. Michigan Wolverines
21. North Carolina Tar Heels
22. Wichita State Shockers
23. Nevada Wolf Pack
24. Kentucky Wildcats
25. Miami (FL) Hurricanes

If you believe in KenPom metrics, Arizona is still ranked a tad high. KenPom ranks the Wildcats as the No. 23 team in the country, with the No. 6 offense and the No. 106 defense.

Arizona (19-5, 9-2 Pac-12) has been the beneficiary of a weak schedule, as it has only faced one team inside the KenPom Top 70 (ASU) since the start of conference play.

But Arizona’s schedule stiffens a bit this week when it hosts the UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans on Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

The first-place Wildcats hold a one-game lead over the Trojans and a 1.5-game lead over the Huskies.

Arizona only faces the L.A. and Washington schools once this season, so a sweep this weekend would go a long way toward securing the Pac-12 title.

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Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire

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