5. Arizona (4-0)
The story in Tucson in recent years has been about Tommy Lloyd making the Wildcats nationally relevant on a yearly basis again. They transitioned smoothly into the Big 12 and continue to be a national power. Additionally, the Wildcats have had a brilliant start to this season thanks to a few new faces in town. Fresh off that big win on opening night over the defending champions, the Wildcats followed that up with more impressive play.
There wasn’t much drama to start the week, as the Wildcats won 84-49 over Northern Arizona on Tuesday. It was a breakout performance from Dwayne Aristode with 18 points, with Jaden Bradley added 13 in a nice team win. What transpired Friday night was another stellar performance, as Arizona headed to Los Angeles and got a 69-65 win over UCLA. They took care of a former league rival while getting 20 points off the bench from Anthony Dell’Orso.
There’s no other team in the nation that can boast two wins quite like this on the early resume. Arizona did brilliant work to hang on against both Florida and UCLA and those results are fantastic currency for later in the season when bracketology becomes a big focus. For now, the Wildcats and their talented rotation look to keep building on this hot start, though Wednesday’s challenge at UConn might be the hardest