:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/48405341/usa-today-9006541.0.jpg)
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 a 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.