After being exiled from the Associated Press Top 25 for the last two months, Arizona men’s basketball has played its way back into the national rankings.
The Wildcats appear at No. 20 in this week’s AP poll, the program’s first appearance in the rankings since November.
The UA (15-6) began the year ranked No. 10 in the preseason. Losses to Wisconsin and Duke dropped the Wildcats in the top 25. A 1-2 trip at the Battle4Atlantis dropped Arizona out of the rankings altogether.
Since losing to UCLA on Dec. 14, Arizona has won 11 of its last 12 games. The Wildcats are 9-1 in Big 12, which is tied with Houston for the top record in the conference.
The Cougars remain the Big 12’s top-ranked program at No. 5, followed by No. 8 Iowa State, which fell five spots after losing at Arizona and at home to Kansas State last week.
Texas Tech is up to No. 13, while Kansas fell to No. 16 following a loss to Baylor on Saturday.
Auburn leads the rankings, followed by Duke, Alabama and Tennessee.
Arizona will put its national ranking to the test on Tuesday when it faces BYU in Provo, Utah for a 9 p.m. MST tip on ESPN.