Wildcats slip to 4th in AP Basketball Poll

Arizona Wildcats Basketball


The Arizona Wildcats slipped to fourth in the country in the latest AP poll. The double-overtime loss to ASU last Friday caused the Wildcats to drop two spots, behind No. 1 ranked Syracuse, second-ranked Florida and third-ranked Wichita State.

Guess who found its way to No. 5? You guessed it. The Duke Blue Devils.

Surprisingly, Arizona is receiving a little bit of respect. I expected the Wildcats to pop up in eighth or ninth place this week. A bad showing at Utah and Colorado next week could see our 'Cats fall out of the top 10.

With UCLA just one game back of Arizona in the race for the title in the Pac-12 conference, it goes without saying that the Wildcats need to string some wins together -- like six in a row would do the trick. After the Utes and the Buffaloes, Arizona will return home for its final home stand against California and Stanford…and then, it's back on the road to Oregon and the final two games of the regular season against the Ducks and the Beavers.

All six are winnable games, but it is also possible the Wildcats could drop four, or five, or all six!

I don't expect double-overtime games the rest of the way, but I do expect each game to go down to the wire. A blowout win is out of the question. Don't look for the rim to be friendly to the Wildcats in Salt Lake City and in Boulder. And, of course, playing in Eugene and Corvallis is no picnic.

I'm a diehard Arizona fan, but I will be at the edge of my seat when the Wildcats come home to tangle with Stanford and California. Wow! What a tough finish for our Wildcats. It was just two weeks ago, the 'Cats were rolling along unbeaten and then trouble struck with the loss of Brandon Ashley.

Now, I'm sitting here, typing away, talking about Arizona possibly finishing the regular season with a 23-8 record and instead of having the Pac-12 title in hand and a No. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament, there's a chance both of those milestones could slip away.

As I said earlier, six in a row would be nice. Five of six could still get it done -- thanks to the Wildcats win over UCLA earlier in the season. Win four of six and the Wildcats will need some help (as in losses down the stretch by the Bruins, the Bears and the Sun Devils).

Nothing is ever easy when it comes to the Wildcats!