Checking the metrics for Arizona women’s basketball

After suffering their first loss of the season, the Arizona Wildcats dropped three spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll to No. 7. What effect did the loss at USC have on some of the other polls and computerized rating systems?

WBCA/USA TODAY Sports poll

The coaches and the media now agree. Arizona stands at No. 7 in both polls. It was only a two-spot drop in the WBCA poll, though, because the Wildcats were at No. 5 last week.

As for the rest of the Pac-12, Stanford held steady at No. 3 in the coaches' poll. Colorado, the lone unbeaten Division I team, moved into the poll at No. 22.

Oregon State is still receiving a 25th-place vote from one voter. They are last in the others receiving votes list with one point.

The NET

Arizona initially dropped to No. 11 in the NET after their loss on Sunday. That didn’t last long, though, as they have already moved up one spot to No. 10 after the games of Monday, Jan. 10.

The NET will continue to adjust even when the Wildcats aren’t playing because it considers the quality of Arizona’s opponents, as well. That can be affected by the play of those opponents going forward. Arizona opponents Northern Arizona and Texas Southern had big wins on Monday.

USC got a considerable boost from the win over Arizona. Before the game, the Women of Troy were ranked No. 68 by the NET. They now stand at No. 55.

Her Hoop Stats

Her Hoop Stats is a computerized model like the NET but uses slightly different criteria to land at its rankings. For most of the season, the NET and HHS rankings for Arizona have been fairly similar with the NET generally ranking the team one spot higher than HHS.

That’s not true for all teams, though. For example, USC went into its game against Arizona ranked No. 68 in NET and No. 106 in HHS.

After the games of Jan. 10, Arizona now sits at No. 12 in the HHS rankings. The Wildcats were No. 7 heading into the USC game, so they took a big hit.