1. Arizona (20-0)
Tommy Lloyd has built his best team yet in Tucson and has Arizona humming along as a national favorite. The Wildcats have made statement after statement this season, both in nonconference play and in these early weeks of Big 12 action. While this team isn’t exactly perfect in all regards, their record remains flawless and they quickly dispatched of any talk that they might be slowing down this week.
On Wednesday the Wildcats used a very strong second half to pull away from Cincinnati, getting a 77-51 win over the Bearcats. Motiejus Krivas led the way with 17 points and 9 rebounds while Brayden Burries added a double-double. Arizona’s weekend battle was even more dominant, resulting in an 88-53 blowout win over West Virginia. Burries starred with 22 points and 7 assists while Koa Peat added 17 points in a tremendous victory.
There has been nights when Arizona’s shooting just isn’t there but they’ve adapted and found other ways to get the job done. When everything comes together, you get 35-point wins like they just had over the Mountaineers; performances that cement that this team can win both a Big 12 and national title this year. Even on this 20-game winning streak, Arizona has a major test ahead as they’ll head to BYU on Monday.
The basketball season keeps chugging right along and we’ve now looked closely at the top teams once again. After presenting our Top 25 update, are you on board with the teams included and the changes we made based on this week’s action?