Arizona unranked in preseason Associated Press men’s basketball poll

As expected, the Arizona Wildcats will begin their first season under Tommy Lloyd as an unranked basketball team.

The UA did not make the initial Top 25 of the Associated Press preseason poll, instead sitting 29^th in terms of total votes received. The Wildcats have 26 total votes, four fewer than USC and one more than Virginia Tech.

This marks the second time in three years the Wildcats aren’t ranked in the initial poll along with before the 2019-20 season, when they only got 14 votes in the preseason and never improved on that number. The UA was No. 21 in last year’s preseason poll, getting as high as 12th after a 9-0 start but finishing the year unranked.

Only two Pac-12 squads are ranked in the preseason, with UCLA coming in at No. 2 and Oregon at No. 13, while Colorado was in the “also receiving votes” category.

In additional to UCLA and Oregon, Arizona is set to face at least two ranked teams during nonconference play. Illinois is ranked 11^th and Tennessee 17^th, and the UA could also play No. 6 Michigan next month at the Roman Main Event in Las Vegas.