I’ve been doing the Top 25 And 1 every morning during the season for lots of years, and I can count on one hand how many times I’ve moved an undefeated team out of the No. 1 spot.
It’s rare. I don’t like doing it.
But, sometimes I think it’s appropriate to reward aggressive non-league scheduling followed by excellence, especially when the alternative is to cling to preseason thoughts that might prove to be accurate but are mostly just preseason thoughts. And I guess that’s my way of telling you that I’ve moved Arizona to No. 1 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings after the Wildcats secured another huge victory Wednesday night, specifically a 71-67 win at UConn.
Arizona is now 5-0 with a neutral-court win over Florida, a win in the greater Los Angeles area over UCLA and a road win over UConn. Put another way, Arizona is undefeated and now owns victories over the programs that produced the sport’s past three national champions (UConn, Florida) — plus another over the program that’s won more men’s basketball titles than any other (UCLA). Put another way, Arizona is undefeated and now owns victories over the teams that were ranked third (Florida), fourth (UConn) and 12th (UCLA) in the preseason AP poll, which makes the Wildcats just the third team in the past 30 years to open a season with at least three of their first five wins coming against top-15 opponents.
Arizona already has wins over Florida, UCLA and UConn; the Wildcats are undeniably college hoops’ No. 1 team
Matt Norlander
Credit goes to Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd for being unafraid to put his team in so many high-profile games so early. Credit goes to Arizona’s players for meeting the challenge, among them senior guard Jaden Bradley, who finished with a team-high 21 points against UConn and is now averaging a team-best 16.8 points in 29.4 minutes per contest.
“I don’t think JB gets enough credit for his work and how much he’s improved,” Lloyd told CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander late Wednesday. “And that’s not to say that he wasn’t always really good, but he’s really worked on his game and honed his game and fixed some weaknesses and accentuated some strengths. He just has a quiet confidence and belief in himself that rubs off on his teammates.
“[He’s] just really special.”
Arizona jumping from No. 5 to No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 caused Purdue and Houston to be pushed down one spot each, no fault of their own. The Boilermakers and Cougars are now No. 2 and No. 3. UConn is down to No. 4. And BYU rounds-out the top five after also being pushed down one spot because of Arizona’s ascension.
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