Solomon Hill and the sixth-ranked Cats take on UCLA this Thursday. Photo by Rob Schumacher/azcentral sports

The Arizona Wildcats improved one spot in the both major polls Monday morning, slipping ahead of Indiana, which lost at home last week to Wisconsin.

Arizona (16-1 overall, 4-1 Pac-12) moved to sixth after its 71-54 victory at Arizona State on Saturday.

Duke went to No. 1 in AP poll, after top-ranked Louisville lost to Syracuse on Saturday. The Cardinals, at 16-2, dropped to fifth.

Arizona was as high as No. 2 among the 65 AP ballots, thanks to the vote from Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Wildcats were as low as No. 9 on three ballots. The full breakdown is here.

Oregon is the only other ranked Pac-12 team, checking in No. 16 in the AP poll. UCLA, which was 24th last week, dropped out of the polls following its home loss to the Ducks on Saturday.

UCLA plays at Arizona on Thursday night.

My final decision of the season: A picture of QB AJ McCarron’s girlfriend, Katherine Webb, over coach Nick Saban holding the national championship trophy. Photo by Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Below is my ballot for the final AP poll. Have at it.

I dropped Notre Dame from first to fourth after the Irish’s face plant in the BCS national championship game against Alabama.

It felt like the Irish should have tumbled more after the 42-14 loss — below Georgia, which took the Tide to the final seconds? — but they still have an impressive body of work, even if they won ugly plenty of times.

Oregon was No. 2 in the final poll … and on my ballot. Why the 12-1 Ducks over undefeated-but-ineligible-for-the-postseason Ohio State? I justify it by saying that Oregon lost to a better team (Stanford) than Ohio State ever defeated. Makes sense to me.

I love the top nine teams in the rankings, and would hate to see one miss out on a mythical eight-team playoff (someday).

Then there is another tier of four or so teams, a couple more nice teams after that and then, eh.

I was ready to quit at about No. 20 rather than try to decide among flawed squads for the final ballot spots. Tho choices were between those teams with gaudy records lacking quality wins or those with middlin’ marks and a high strength of schedule.

Anyway, here is my ballot:

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Ohio State
4. Notre Dame
5. Georgia
6. Stanford
7. Texas A&M
8. Florida
9. South Carolina
10. Kansas State
11. Florida State
12. Clemson
13. LSU
14. Oklahoma
15. Louisville
16. Michigan
17. Utah State
18. Texas
19. Baylor
20. Oregon State
21. Northwestern
22. Boise State
23. UCLA
24. Northern Illinois
25. Nebraska

Yep. Notre Dame is No. 1. Photo by Matt Cashore-US PRESSWIRE

The chaos of Saturday elevated Notre Dame to No. 1 in the AP poll, and Alabama back into the driver’s seat for a spot for the national championship game.

The Irish and Ohio State (ineligible for the postseason) are the only two unbeaten teams, and Notre Dame deserves unanimous support for the top spot. The Irish, despite some close calls, have wins over Michigan, Stanford and at Oklahoma to hang their leprechaun hats on.

I dropped Oregon from No. 1 to No. 5 following its overtime loss to Stanford, although I will revisit the Ducks’ status relative to the SEC teams if they win at Oregon State this week and get to play in the Pac-12 title game vs. UCLA (which would require a Bruins’ victory over the visiting Cardinal this weekend).

I dropped Kansas State further — from No. 2 to No. 9 — because its loss at Baylor was “worse” than Oregon’s close defeat to a ranked team.

I had more trouble at the bottom of the poll. I did consider 7-4 Arizona, because the Wildcats have as many or more quality wins than any team on the fringes of the poll. But every team in that range has its flaws, and it’s more of a guessing game than anyone would want to admit.

Arizona did end up on four of the 60 AP ballots — a No. 20, a No. 21 and a pair of No. 25s. Another victory this week against Arizona State, which would make the Cats 5-1 in the second half of the season, could move them in.

Here is my ballot for the week:

1. Notre Dame
2. Alabama
3. Ohio State
4. Georgia
5. Oregon
6. Florida
7. LSU
8. Texas A&M
9. Kansas State
10. Stanford
11. Florida State
12. South Carolina
13. Oklahoma
14. Clemson
15. Oregon State
16. UCLA
17. Nebraska
18. Michigan
19. Texas
20. Louisville
21. Oklahoma State
22. Utah State
23. Northern Illinois
24. Kent State
25. Rutgers

Arizona players celebrate after beating USC 39-36. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

The best three-loss team in the country.

Nobody aspires to be that, but that’s what the Arizona Wildcats can claim to be. Let’s just say they have the best resume of any three-loss team — and that resume is better than many teams with one or two losses.

It’s good enough, to me, to put Arizona at No. 22 on my AP ballot this week.

Strength of schedule, quality victories and no “bad” losses lead to picking the 5-3 Cats over teams with better records. The combined mark of Arizona’s seven FBS opponents is 43-12. Take out UA’s results against those teams, and those seven foes have gone 39-9 against the rest of their schedules.

Arizona’s 49-0 loss at Oregon looks bad, but the Ducks do that to a lot of teams, and the game was closer the score indicated for through much of three quarters at least. The Cats were within a whisker of beating two other ranked teams — Oregon State and Stanford.

Meanwhile, Arizona’s season-opening win against Toledo continues to look better (the Rockets have won eight in a row, including a win over then-ranked Cincinnati). Oklahoma State is 5-2 and working its way back to relevance after solid wins over Iowa State and TCU in the past two weeks. USC is still USC.

I put each of those three teams at the tail end of my AP ballot.

UCLA, at 6-2, is one of the teams I considered for a spot on my Top 25. The Bruins have a good home win (Nebraska) and a got a last-second field goal Saturday to secure a solid road victory at Arizona State. But a big loss at Cal was the deal-breaker.

UCLA can further its case with this Saturday night’s home game against Arizona (7:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks).

Here is my AP ballot for the week.

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Kansas State
4. Notre Dame
5. LSU
6. Ohio State
7. Georgia
8. Florida
9. Florida State
10. South Carolina
11. Clemson
12. Oklahoma
13. Louisville
14. Oregon State
15. Stanford
16. Texas A&M
17. Boise State
18. Texas Tech
19. Nebraska
20. Mississippi State
21. Louisiana Tech
22. Arizona
23. USC
24. Oklahoma State
25. Toledo

Marcus Mariota and the Oregon Ducks left ASU in the dust. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

No upsets near the top this week, but plenty of very impressive victories.

We can (pretty much) all agree, using our common sense, that Alabama is still the team to beat. Oregon might not have the next-best resume, based on strength of schedule, but the Ducks could have splattered “A” Mountain in Tempe with more than green paint Thursday night if they had truly wanted to drive a stake through ASU’s heart.

Instead of going for 80-plus points, coach Chip Kelly reined in his attack dogs, didn’t score in the second half, and happily walked away with a 43-21 win over the Sun Devils. No need to punish Oregon on my ballot for that (although look for the Ducks to slip in the BCS standings later Sunday).

On Saturday, Florida smacked visiting South Carolina, and Kansas State showed West Virginia what a balanced team looks like. Notre Dame survived its “trap” game against BYU, and LSU rallied to win at Texas A&M.

I spent more time with the bottom of my ballot, with several teams vying for the last spot or two. I went with 6-2 Wisconsin, whose loss to Oregon State looks perfectly understandable now.

You could play the “Team A beat Team B, which beat Team C” game for quite a while (for example, UCLA beat Nebraska, which beat Wisconsin), so there’s no perfect choice for No. 25. To me, the Badgers seem to be back to playing to their potential as a top 15 team.

There will be plenty of shakeup next week.

Mississippi State plays at Alabama in a battle of unbeatens. Florida plays Georgia. Texas Tech is at Kansas State in a huge Big 12 game. Notre Dame tries to further its case for the national title game at Oklahoma, one of the nation’s top one-loss teams.

Oh, and USC is at Arizona.

Here is my AP ballot for the week:

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida
4. Kansas State
5. Notre Dame
6. LSU
7. Oregon State
8. Oklahoma
9. Ohio State
10. USC
11. Texas Tech
12. Florida State
13. South Carolina
14. Louisville
15. Georgia
16. Clemson
17. Rutgers
18. Mississippi State
19. Stanford
20. Texas A&M
21. Michigan
22. Boise State
23. Louisiana Tech
24. Ohio
25. Wisconsin

ASU sophomore Taylor Kelly is third in the nation in passing efficiency with a rating of 175.98. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona State won’t be ranked in the AP poll for its big home matchup against No. 2 Oregon on Thursday night, when the Sun Devils will have the opportunity to convince their skeptics.

I slid 5-1 ASU onto my AP ballot this week for the first time this season, putting the Devils at No. 25. Their resume is still suspect because they haven’t beaten an FBS team with a winning record — hence the skeptics — but they are passing the eye test.

ASU is a balanced team that can run the ball, make big plays on defense, and it will have a chance to contend against the Ducks if sophomore quarterback Taylor Kelly keeps playing as efficiently as he did through the first half of the season.

The Sun Devils just missed out on being ranked by the AP, finishing first among others receiving votes. ASU is No. 24 in the USA Today coaches poll.

Arizona, at 3-3 and on a three-game losing streak, appeared on one of 60 AP ballots — from Josh Kendall of The State newspaper in Columbia, S.C. That shows a lot of respect for UA’s strength of schedule. The combined record of the Cats’ five FBS opponents are 24-5.

Here is my AP ballot for this week:

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida
4. Notre Dame
5. Kansas State
6. LSU
7. South Carolina
8. Oregon State
9. Oklahoma
10. Ohio State
11. USC
12. Georgia
13. Florida State
14. Louisville
15. Texas Tech
16. Clemson
17. Rutgers
18. Mississippi State
19. Texas A&M
20. West Virginia
21. Stanford
22. Michigan
23. Cincinnati
24. Boise State
25. Arizona State

Rich Rodriguez had a pained expression through much of Arizona’s 49-0 loss at Oregon. Photo by Scott Olmos-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona, ranked No. 22 in the AP poll last week, still received a smattering of votes on this week’s ballots following a 49-0 loss at Oregon.

The 3-1 Wildcats, on the strength of their home win over Oklahoma State on Sept. 8, appeared on six of 60 ballots for a total of 17 points (putting UA 31st overall).

Arizona was as high as No. 20, thanks to the vote of Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Arizona State appeared on three ballots, all of which came from Pac-12 precincts — Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (No. 21), Kyle Ringo of the Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera and Dirk Facer of the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.

The Wildcats will be facing a ranked team for the third time in five weeks when they play host to Oregon State on Saturday night (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network). The 2-0 Beavers, who have wins over Wisconsin and UCLA, moved into the AP poll at No. 18.

A win this week could put the Cats right back into the Top 25.

Here is my AP ballot for this week:

1. Alabama
2. Oregon
3. Florida State
4. LSU
5. Georgia
6. South Carolina
7. Kansas State
8. Notre Dame
9. Stanford
10. Florida
11. West Virginia
12. USC
13. Texas
14. Clemson
15. Ohio State
16. Oklahoma
17. Oregon State
18. Louisville
19. Rutgers
20. Michigan State
21. TCU
22. Boise State
23. Northwestern
24. Mississippi State
25. UCLA

Dan Buckner directs “Bear Down, Arizona” after the victory over South Carolina State. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats moved up two spots to No. 22 in the AP poll, appearing on all but two ballots this week.

UA was mentioned on only 31 of 60 ballots a week ago.

As was the case last week, the voter most enamored of Arizona’s resume is Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. He picks the Cats at No. 11.

Arizona’s opponent this week is third-ranked Oregon, which moved up a spot ahead because of USC’s loss at Stanford. Alabama is No. 1, receiving 58 first-place votes. The other first-place votes went to second-ranked LSU.

UA is No. 21 in the USA Today coaches poll.

Arizona’s conference opener at Oregon (7:30 p.m. PT, ESPN) is one of four matchups this week involving teams ranked in the AP poll. The others are No. 10 Clemson at No. 4 Florida State; No. 18 Michigan at No. 11 Notre Dame; No. 15 Kansas State at No. 6 Oklahoma.

For my AP ballot this week, I moved the Wildcats to No. 20.

Here is my full Top 25:

1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. Oregon
4. Georgia
5. Florida State
6. Oklahoma
7. West Virginia
8. South Carolina
9. Stanford
10. Florida
11. Notre Dame
12. USC
13. Clemson
14. Texas
15. Michigan
16. Ohio State
17. Kansas State
18. Louisville
19. UCLA
20. Arizona
21. Michigan State
22. TCU
23. Boise State
24. Oklahoma State
25. Northwestern

Matt Scott and the Wildcats have reason to jump for joy. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The Arizona Wildcats find themselves relevant, coming in at No. 24 in this week’s AP poll after its 59-38 victory over then-18th-ranked Oklahoma State on Saturday night.

“We’re trying to make ourselves relevant and I told the guys this week that the only way to do that is by beating ranked teams,” said coach Rich Rodriguez.

Although it seems like a football lifetime ago, Arizona was ranked as recently as Nov. 22, 2010.

The Cats were ranked No. 20 that week, sitting at 7-3 after two consecutive losses and a bye week. Arizona fell out of the rankings with a loss to Oregon, part of a season-ending five-game losing streak that began the downfall of coach Mike Stoops, who started the 2011 season with five more losses to teams from the Football Bowl Subdivision.

“To what degree are we relevant, I don’t know,” Rodriguez said.

“But this is the first step in that way. We’ve got to follow it up. Now, if you don’t follow it up with another good win next week, then you wasted the effort.”

Arizona plays lower-division South Carolina State next Saturday at Arizona Stadium.

The Cats are one of five teams in the AP poll, moving into the rankings along with UCLA, which defeated Nebraska and debuted at No. 22. USC is No. 2, Oregon is fourth and Stanford is 21st.

Arizona appeared on 31 of 60 ballots, including mine. The Wildcats were as high as No. 12, as ranked by Doug Lesmerises of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

While Rodriguez now might have to worry about the problems with rising expectations and too much flattery, those are good problems to have.

“You can coach off winning and you coach off a loss; it’s a hell of a lot better to coach off a win,” he said. “You sleep a lot better, food tastes better, I’m happier to the wife and kids. Everybody’s better.”

Amazing win last night for The Wildcats! Finally got the better of OK State! Keep it up guys! All the alumni are proud of y’all!

— Nick Foles (@NFoles8) September 9, 2012

Rich Rodriguez has the Arizona Wildcats in the Top 25 discussion after two games. Photo by Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

The Associated Press instructs its voters in its college football play to “base your vote on performance, not reputation or preseason speculation.”

That’s a great strategy. For later in the season. When you have a lot of performances to gauge.

After only two weeks, what you’re left with when putting together a Top 25 is a combination of what you thought you knew, what you think you know … and the small sample size of results.

Which leaves a lot of room for interpretation.

Which brings me, specifically, to Arizona.

The Wildcats weren’t in my big pile of 90 or so teams not to be considered for preseason rankings. They didn’t move the needle when they squeezed out a week 1 win over Toledo, in overtime.

Beating 18th-ranked Oklahoma State 59-38 on Saturday night changed everything.

What I thought I knew gets replaced by what I know — that was a really good win, one of the best in the nation through two weeks.

The jury is still out on how good the Cowboys really are this season. If they turn out to be unworthy successors to possibly the best team in the school history, then the quality of Arizona’s win will be judged accordingly. But, for now, that is a high-quality win.

Arizona deserves to be ranked.

I put the Cats at No. 25.

I start the process by ranking each team within its own conference. USC and Oregon are at the top of the Pac-12, of course. I put UCLA third in the league because of its victory over Nebraska and because the Bruins started at a higher place in my mind than Arizona.

So did Stanford. Although the Cardinal’s two wins — a close one over San Jose State and a rout of Duke — aren’t as good as Arizona’s resume, I kept Stanford ever-so-slightly ahead of the Cats. Remember, at this stage of the season, you’re still mashing together results and perception.

If it was solely results-oriented than Louisiana-Monroe, which won at Arkansas, would be ahead of Florida State, which has defeated two lower-division schools.

You might ask: Well, who cares about this poll?

The AP vote isn’t used in the BCS formula. It is for entertainment purposes, a conversation piece. But it is a really big conversation piece.

Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez knows that.

“Nowadays, everyone knows all the scores, but it seems they put that Top 25 on the ticker, don’t they?” Rodriguez said. “And it just goes on and on all week. So I told the guys, ‘I want to be on the right side on that ticker.’”

Here is my Week 2 ballot:

1. Alabama
2. LSU
3. USC
4. Georgia
5. Oregon
6. Oklahoma
7. Florida State
8. West Virginia
9. Michigan State
10. South Carolina
11. Clemson
12. Virginia Tech
13. Texas
14. Michigan
15. Ohio State
16. Kansas State
17. Louisville
18. Tennessee
19. Florida
20. UCLA
21. Boise State
22. Notre Dame
23. BYU
24. Stanford
25. Arizona