College basketball rankings: Arizona improves to 10-0 but tough stretch of road games is ahead for Wildcats
The Wildcats are undefeated under first-year coach Tommy Lloyd and No. 6 in the daily CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 rankings
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
Arizona won again Wednesday night — this time 101-76 over Northern Colorado. So the Wildcats are now 10-0 under first-year coach Tommy Lloyd heading into Saturday's game with Cal Baptist.
"They're a really good team," said Northern Colorado coach Steve Smiley.
At this point, that's undeniably true. Lloyd's head-coaching career is off to a tremendous start. But we'll soon find out just how good his Wildcats really are when they, after this weekend's game with Cal Baptist, embark on a three-game stretch of road contests that is, on paper, more challenging than any three-game stretch anybody will play all season.
Check this out: three days before Christmas, Arizona will play at Tennessee. Eight days later, the Wildcats will play at UCLA. Three days after that, they'll play at USC. So that's three straight road games against the schools ranked No. 16 (Tennessee), No. 3 (UCLA) and No. 12 (USC) in the CBS Sports Top 25 And 1.
Buckle up.
From a probabilities perspective, it's unlikely that Arizona will remain undefeated through that three-game stretch. But I personally wouldn't rule anything out considering the way Lloyd has his team playing through the first five weeks of this season. The Wildcats are ninth nationally in adjusted defensive-efficiency and 12th nationally in adjusted offensive-efficiency, according to KenPom. They play hard. They play fast. They've beaten Illinois on the road, Michigan on a neutral-court and won their 10 games by an average of 28.6 points.
Arizona is a legitimate title contender.
The Wildcats remain No. 6 in Thursday morning's updated Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The only school in the Top 25 And 1 scheduled to play Thursday night is No. 2 Duke. The Blue Devils are hosting Appalachian State inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | James Akinjo finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Sunday's 57-36 win over Villanova. The Bears' next game is Saturday at Oregon. | -- | 6-1 |
| 2 |  | AJ Griffin finished with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists in Tuesday's 103-62 win over South Carolina State. The Blue Devils' next game is Thursday against Appalachian State. | -- | 9-0 |
| 3 |  | Jamie Jaquez finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 67-56 win at Marquette. The Bruins' next game is Saturday against North Carolina. | -- | 6-2 |
| 4 |  | Trevion Williams finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in Sunday's 82-72 overtime win over NC State. The Boilermakers' next game is Saturday against Butler. | -- | 8-0 |
| 5 |  | Chet Holmgren finished with 15 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in Thursday's 80-55 win over Merrimack. The Zags' next game is Saturday against Texas Tech. | -- | 7-1 |
| 6 | | Christian Koloko finished with 19 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday's 101-76 win over Northern Colorado. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Cal Baptist. | -- | 7-0 |
| 7 |  | Ochai Agbaji finished with 21 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 102-65 win over Missouri. The Jayhawks' next game is Saturday against Stephen F. Austin. | -- | 6-3 |
| 8 |  | Gabe Brown finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 80-64 win over Penn State. The Spartans' next game is Tuesday against Oakland. | -- | 8-0 |
| 9 |  | Villanova shot 22.2% from the field in Sunday's 57-36 loss at Baylor. The Wildcats' next game is Friday at Creighton. | -- | 6-1 |
| 10 |  | Alabama finished with 20 turnovers and just 16 assists in Tuesday's 92-78 loss at Memphis. The Crimson Tide's next game is Saturday against Jacksonville State. | -- | 6-2 |
| 11 |  | Walker Kessler finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and five blocks in Tuesday's 70-44 win over North Alabama. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Saint Louis. | -- | 7-2 |
| 12 |  | Isaiah Mobley finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's 66-61 win over UC Irvine. The Trojans' next game is Saturday against Georgia Tech. | -- | 8-0 |
| 13 |  | Aljaz Kunc finished with 12 points and five rebounds in Sunday's 47-37 win over Jackson State. The Cyclones' next game is Sunday against Southeastern Louisiana. | -- | 8-0 |
| 14 |  | Kevin McCullar finished with 21 points, five rebounds and four assists in Tuesday's 75-62 win over Arkansas State. The Red Raiders' next game is Saturday against Gonzaga. | -- | 6-2 |
| 15 |  | Josh Carlton finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in Tuesday's 71-56 win over Louisiana. The Cougars' next game is Saturday against Oklahoma State. | -- | 7-1 |
| 16 |  | Kennedy Chandler finished with 15 points, 10 assists and five rebounds in Tuesday's 96-52 win over South Carolina Upstate. The Vols' next game is Saturday against Memphis. | -- | 7-2 |
| 17 |  | Dawson Garcia finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds in Tuesday's 74-61 win over Furman. The Tar Heels' next game is Saturday against UCLA. | -- | 7-1 |
| 18 |  | E.J. Liddell finished with 28 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 73-55 win over Wisconsin. The Badgers' next game is Saturday against Kentucky. | -- | 6-1 |
| 19 |  | Bryce Aiken finished with 22 points and three assists in Sunday's 77-63 win over Rutgers. The Pirates' next game is Saturday against Iona. | -- | 8-1 |
| 20 |  | Tari Eason finished with 18 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 89-49 win over Northwestern State. The Tigers' next game is Saturday against Louisiana Tech. | -- | 8-0 |
| 21 |  | R.J. Cole finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Saturday's 74-64 win over St. Bonaventure. The Huskies' next game is Saturday against Providence. | -- | 7-1 |
| 22 |  | Tre Mitchell finished with 14 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 63-31 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff. The Longhorns' next game is Sunday against Stanford. | -- | 6-3 |
| 23 |  | Jerome Hunter finished with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists in Wednesday's 86-63 win over Morehead State. The Musketeers' next game is Saturday against Marquette. | -- | 6-3 |
| 24 |  | David Roddy finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 66-63 win over Mississippi State. The Rams' next game is Saturday against Tulsa. | -- | 6-2 |
| 25 |  | Brad Davison finished with 19 points and two assists in Wednesday's 71-68 win over Nicholls. The Badgers' next game is Dec. 23 against Morgan State. | -- | 6-2 |
| 26 |  | Braden Norris finished with 18 points and nine assists in Friday's 69-58 victory at Vanderbilt. The Ramblers' next game is Dec. 19 against Norfolk State. | -- | 2-7 |
