Arizona moves up to No. 4 in final AP poll

Published

Arizona jumped to a season-high No. 4 in the final Associated Press college basketball poll of the season after sweeping Colorado, UCLA and Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament.

The Wildcats (30-4) jumped from No. 7, while UCLA dropped from third to eighth and Oregon fell from fifth to ninth. Arizona, which is the No. 2 seed in the West Region, is ranked in the Top 25 for the 97th consecutive week, second longest streak in the nation to Kansas' 161.

Defending national champion Villanova (31-3), the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, earned 59 of 65 first-place votes to finish the regular season as No. 1.

Gonzaga (32-1) is second and Kansas (28-4) third.

Villanova was ranked No. 1 for eight weeks this season; Gonzaga for fourth; Duke, Kentucky and Kansas for two; and Baylor for one. Villanova and Kansas the only two teams who spent the entire season in the top 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F6ANSv5liI

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' final 2016-17 college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses and records through March 12:

1. Villanova (59)      ­       31-3   1,619   2

2. Gonzaga (6)         ­       32-1   1,520   4

3. Kansas              ­           28-4   1,479   1

4. Arizona             ­           30-4   1,427   7

5. Kentucky            ­         29-5   1,276   8

6. North Carolina      ­     27-7   1,256   6

7. Duke                ­             27-8   1,251  14

8. UCLA                ­           29-4   1,208   3

9. Oregon              ­           29-5   1,196   5

10. Louisville          ­         24-8     983  10

11. SMU                 ­           30-4     953  12

12. Baylor              ­           25-7     861   9

13. West Virginia       ­     26-8     844  11

14. Notre Dame          ­    25-9     684  22

15. Purdue              ­          25-7     654  13

16. Florida St.         ­         25-8     570  16

17. Iowa St.            ­          23-10     562  23

18. Cincinnati          ­        29-5     522  15

19. Wichita St.         ­        30-4     438  20

20. Florida             ­          24-8     390  17

21. Butler              ­            23-8     361  18

22. Saint Mary's (Cal)­    28-4     305  19

23. Michigan            ­       24-11     254   -

24. Virginia            ­          22-10     240  21

25. Wisconsin           ­       25-9     153  24

Others receiving votes: Middle Tennessee 37, Minnesota 20, Rhode Island 13, Creighton 11, Oklahoma St. 8, Iowa 8, Princeton 5, Nevada 5, Vermont 4, Virginia Tech 3, Seton Hall 2, Arkansas 1, Northwestern 1, VCU 1.