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Arizona basketball falls to lowest ranking of season; Cats off six AP ballots

by on Mar. 04, 2013, under Arizona basketball
Sean Miller

Sean Miller is looking for answers after his team has dropped four of the past seven games. Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

The Arizona Wildcats, having been swept at USC and UCLA last week, fell to their lowest ranking of the season in the AP poll, landing at No. 18 on Monday.

Arizona dropped seven spots this week but remained the Pac-12′s highest-ranked team. Oregon is No. 19 and fellow league co-leader UCLA is at No. 23.

The Cats were left off six of the 65 AP ballots, including that of Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated/CBS Sports.

Arizona has lost four of its past seven games, so you could make the case that the Wildcats aren’t playing like a Top 25 team right now, but Davis really punished UA after the two losses.

He ranked the Cats as the eighth-best team in the country last week and then moved them entirely off his ballot.

It was a similar story for Alabama-based writer Joel Erickson, who dropped Arizona from his ballot after putting it ninth last week.

There was a wide range of opinion on Arizona, whose best ranking this week, No. 12, came from Roger Clarkson of the Athens (Ga.) Banner-Herald.

Arizona fell only two spots, to 13th, in the NCAA’s official RPI. The Wildcats still hold up well when looking at the entire season, thanks to their play in non-conference games, and they don’t have a truly terrible loss. The worst was to USC, which is 89th in the RPI. It’s not as if Arizona lost to Penn State (as No. 7 Michigan did) or TCU (as fourth-ranked Kansas did).

Gonzaga is No. 1 in both major polls for the first time in its history.

The Cats had been as low as 12th in the AP rankings three times this season (including on the AP preseason poll). They were as high as No. 3 as late as the week of Jan. 10 after a 14-0 start.

The Wildcats finish the regular season at home against Arizona State on Saturday. The game begins at 2:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Net.

Then comes the Pac-12 tournament next week, followed by the NCAAs.

“For us, it’s a matter of focusing on a great week, finishing off our season at home on the right foot against our rival,” said coach Sean Miller. “And then kind of recharge and see what we can do here in both tournaments.”

This entry was posted on Monday, March 4th, 2013 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Arizona basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  • macjones

    1. Mr. Seth Davis Su!Ks Duke U Know What!!! So his opinion is much ado bout’ nothing concerning Arizona( I dig how Seth was DISCOMBOBULATED-sp and what not. After Arizona bloody MOLESTED his Blue Devil’s by double-digits! Mr. Davis looked like he was READY bawl. Like the PAMPERED dude he be!! ).
    Now are the Wildcats a Top 10 squad. NO. Yet, Miller’s squad is still a LEGITIMATE Top 25 team going into the conference tournament and N.C.A.A. Tournament. dUh
    2. Seriously, I don’t give a U KNOW WHAT bout’ no A.P. poll and the numerous good ol’ boy CLAN, whom vote in it!!( SEE that SanJoseMercury a.p. college hoops writer, for STARK example. The dude been voting Arizona DOWN all season! ). 4-bloody-REAL!! And that includes those good ol’ bUbba college football A.P. voter’s,too.
    Heck, there’s an absolute REASON WHY the B.C.S. formula CHIT-CANNED the A.P. college pigskin writers from their formula. REGIONAL and/or CONFERENCE bias’ anyone!!
    3. Yet, I do give abso-LUTE credence to the official N.C.A.A. RPI and Sagarin’s and KenPom and Mr. Warren’s collective RPI tabulations and formula’s.
    Bottom line is Arizona is a legitimate No.4/No.5 seed going into the Tournament that matters the most, and probably won’t improve their seeding now. No matter how Miller’s squad does in the PAC-12 tournament ( I tout the Wildcats NOT winning the inaugural,sp. conference tournament in Sin City. )
    And the Wildcat’s current R.P.I. attests to Arizona’s probabl seeding. Eh. What say.
    Bon jour et Bonsoir
    Oh, F-R-E-E Mayes and give him more minutes!!!! And LESEN that Zeus’ playing time and give the minutes to Grant and/or Ashley!!

  • macjones

    Just perused the link of that Good Ol’ Boy CLAN of A.P. voters.
    And I bloody well REST MY CASE bout’ that SanJoseSports writer. The LOUT didn’t vote Arizona even No. 25.
    Like I bloviated. jw been abso-LUTE-ly DISRESPECTING Arizona ALL season with his GRUDGE-HOLDING vote.
    In other words, that Weenie… err Wilner still holds a GRUDGE against Coach Olson and the Arizona Wildcat program!! No if’s, but’s or may be’s!!
    Bon jour et Bonsoir

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