Arizona finished at No. 3 in the Associated Press Top 25 postseason poll, behind national champion Michigan and runner-up UConn.
Picked 13th in the preseason poll, Arizona (36-3) rose to No. 1 for nine iterations of the poll in midseason, then entered the NCAA Tournament at No. 2 behind only Duke. The Blue Devils (35-3) finished at No. 4 after losing to UConn in the Elite Eight.
The Wildcats finished No. 2 in Kenpom behind Michigan, which beat Arizona 91-73 in the national semifinals on Saturday. The Wolverines (37-3) beat UConn 69-63 on Monday to win the NCAA title. UA is third in NCAA NET ratings behind Michigan and No. 2 Duke.
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While Arizona beat UConn 71-67 on Nov. 19 in Storrs, Conn., the Huskies were missing starters Braylon Mullins and Tarris Reed for that game, reached the championship game with them and played Michigan closer than Arizona did -- likely explaining why the Huskies picked up the No. 2 spot.
Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0) shoves his way into the lane through Michigan guard Nimari Burnett (4) in the second half of their Final Four game, Indianapolis, Ind., April 4, 2026.
Arizona wound up 7-1 against teams ranked in the final Top 10, and 10-3 against postseason-ranked teams. Among the Wildcats' other opponents this season, Purdue (30-9) finished at No. 6, Houston (30-7) was ranked No. 8, Florida (27-8) was No. 9, Arkansas (28-9) No. 13, Alabama (25-10) No. 16, Kansas (24-11) No. 20 and Texas Tech (23-11) No. 21.
FWIW, I had the top seven teams in the same order on my ballot as they were in the overall voting.
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
Bruce Pascoe
Reporter
