Don’t look now, but the Arizona Wildcats are a top-10 team.
After beating BYU 85-74 on the road Tuesday night, the Wildcats moved up to No. 9 in the country in the only college basketball rankings that truly matter — the NCAA NET Rankings.
The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses the NET Rankings as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for the NCAA tournament.
Why Did Arizona Move Up?
Arizona’s win over BYU was considered a Quadrant 1 victory, which is a home win against a top 30 team in the NET, or a road win against a top 50 team in the NET. BYU came into the game ranked No. 33 in the NET, and dropped to No. 34 after the loss.
Arizona now has 6 Quad 1 victories — the same number as Iowa State, Tennessee and Alabama. Those three teams are currently projected to be either No. 1 or No. 2 seeds in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Quad 1 wins carry a lot of weight in the both the NET Rankings and the NCAA tournament seeding process. Last season Arizona finished with nine Quad 1 wins and received a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Arizona’s NCAA Tournament Predictions
ESPN won’t update its NCAA Tournament projections until Friday, but it’s a safe bet the Wildcats will move up at least one seed line.
Joe Lunardi’s last Bracketology predictions, posted Tuesday, have Arizona as a No. 5 seed in the South Region, matched up against No. 12 McNeese in the first round.
Arizona made a huge jump in EvanMiya.com’s projections, moving from a projected 6-8 seed to a 3-5 seed.
The Wildcats also moved up in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI), jumping to No. 6 in the country and moving up to a projected No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. The BPI gives Arizona a 92.7% chance of winning a first-round tourney game and a 62.7% chance of advancing to the Sweet 16.
Arizona can move even higher with a win over Texas Tech on Saturday. The Red Raiders are No. 7 in the NET and currently ranked No. 13 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
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