Arizona was ranked No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 postseason poll, after finishing the season in the Sweet 16 with a 24-13 record.
Ranked No. 10 in the AP preseason poll last October, the Wildcats and spent a total of 11 of 21 weeks in the poll, counting the preseason, weekly in-season and postseason polls.
The Wildcats fell out twice during the season, first on Dec. 2 after going 1-2 in the Battle 4 Atlantis over Thanksgiving week. They resurfaced in the poll on Feb. 3 and spent five weeks in it before dropping out after losing 83-76 at Kansas on March 8.
But after beating Kansas and Texas Tech in Kansas City the next week to reach the championship game of the Big 12 tournament, Arizona moved back in at No. 21 entering the NCAA Tournament.
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Arizona guard Jaden Bradley (0), left and guard KJ Lewis (5) manhandle the ball out of the arms of Duke guard Kon Knueppel (7) amid a crowd in the lane in their Sweet Sixteen game in the men’s NCAA tournament, Newark, NJ, March 27, 2025.
The AP ranking earned coach Tommy Lloyd a $20,000 bonus for finishing between 11-15 in the final poll. Lloyd, who earned $5.25 million in guaranteed compensation this season, earlier earned $20,000 for winning 20 regular-season games and $50,000 for reaching the Sweet 16.
The Wildcats finished with a NET ranking of 10, having gone 10-12 in Quad 1 and 6-1 in Quad 2 games.
The "way too early" media posts out Tuesday, all subject to considerable change because of transfer portal and NBA decisions to come, had Arizona ranked between 11 and 23.
The Wildcats were No. 11 in the Athletic's version, 17th in ESPN, 18 in 247, 19 in SI and 23 in USA Today.
