Arizona women’s basketball drops one spot in Associated Press Top 25 after weekend split

The blowout loss to Stanford on Feb. 9 didn’t damage Arizona women’s basketball this time any more than it did earlier in the season. The Wildcats dropped one spot in the Associated Press Top 25 to No. 18.

The weekend split against Stanford and California did have some repercussions in the Pac-12 standings, though. UCLA and USC were both able to equal Arizona’s 9-5 conference record with sweeps over Oregon and Oregon State to force a tie for the final bye in the Pac-12 Tournament. In the Wildcats’ favor, they hold the tiebreaker over both teams by virtue of their wins in Los Angeles the previous week. They were the only matchups between the Arizona and LA schools this regular season.

In the AP poll, there are now six Pac-12 teams ranked. Stanford moved back up to No. 3 after the road sweep against UA and Arizona State. Utah is right behind them, reaching a program high of No. 4 with a weekend sweep of Washington and Washington State.

The Wildcats have the opportunity to do something about that historic mark reached by the Utes on Friday. The two teams face each other in McKale Center after playing to a one-point Utah win in the Huntsman Center last month.

UCLA nudged ahead of Arizona in the Top 25 with its wins over the weekend. The Bruins moved up two spots to No. 16.

Colorado rose four spots to No. 21 with their weekend sweep of the Washington schools. They come to McKale Center for senior day on Sunday.

The sixth team is USC, which entered the poll at No. 25 for its first AP Top 25 appearance since 2016.

As for its postseason hopes, Arizona improved to No. 27 in the NET after the weekend’s games. The initial Top 16 teams were released during halftime of the Arizona-Stanford game. At this point, it is unlikely that Arizona will host the opening rounds. Charlie Creme of ESPN has the Wildcats as the No. 6 seed in Austin, Tex. playing Purdue in the opening round. They would face the Texas Longhorns in the second round if they advanced.

When it comes to NCAA Tournament odds, Arizona has some of the best odds to win it all. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Wildcats are +6000, tied with Iowa State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech for 14th-best, through far behind favorite South Carolina +100.