The Wildcats, riding their best start since the 2013-14 season, received all 60 first-place votes from the national media panel to easily outdistance second-place UConn and third-ranked Michigan, whose places remained unchanged from last week’s poll.
Arizona was 20-0 going into the week, just the third 20-game win streak in program history. On Monday, the Wildcats matched the best start in school history at 21-0 with an 86-83 victory over BYU.
Duke remained No. 4 ahead of the Huskers, who also are 20-0 and climbed two more spots from last week. Nebraska has won 24 in a row dating to last season, the longest win streak by any Big Ten team since Ohio State won 24 straight to start the 2010-11 season.
Just like Arizona, the path to stay perfect is perilous. The Huskers visit Michigan on Tuesday night and play No. 9 Illinois on Sunday.
Gonzaga moved up two spots to sixth after narrowly avoiding an upset loss to San Francisco. The Bulldogs were followed by Michigan State, Iowa State, the Illini and Houston, which remained in the top 10 for a 23rd straight poll despite its loss to Texas Tech.
Louisville climbed three spots to No. 20.
Purdue tumbled eight spots to No. 12 following back-to-back losses to UCLA and Illinois. BYU stayed put at No. 13, Kansas climbed five spots to No. 14 ahead of its matchup with BYU on Saturday, while Arkansas also moved up five spots to round out the top 15.
St. John’s, the preseason No. 5, returned to the poll for the first time since dropping out in mid-December following wins over Seton Hall and Xavier, the latter giving coach Rick Pitino his 900th win. Georgia dropped out after a lopsided loss to Texas.
Kentucky received 51 votes this week, bubbling just under the top 25.
(AP Photo Rick Scuteri)
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