Big Ten teams jump ahead of Arizona in updated NCAA basketball rankings

Despite winning their sixth consecutive game, the Wildcats dropped in the NET Rankings

Arizona Wildcats guard KJ Lewis (5) runs with the ball against UCF Knights guards Dior Johnson (7) and Darius Johnson (3) during the second half of the game at McKale Center. | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Despite a sixth consecutive victory, the Arizona Wildcats (10-5, 4-0) lost ground in the updated NCAA NET Rankings.

After beating UCF 88-80 on Saturday night, Arizona remained steady at No. 14 in the NET. After Sunday's slate of games, the Wildcats dropped to No. 16.

The ranking is significant because the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee uses the NET, which stands for the NCAA Evaluation Tool, as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

When it comes to NCAA Tournament seeding, the AP Top 25 and Coaches polls are irrelevant.

Big Ten Teams Move Up

Big Ten teams Michigan State and Purdue both moved ahead of Arizona in the NET Rankings after picking up wins on Sunday.

Michigan State (14-2, 5-0) moved from No. 15 to No. 14 after a 78-68 road victory over Northwestern.

Purdue (13-4, 5-1) jumped from No. 23 to No. 15 after a 104-68 home victory over Nebraska.

The Big Ten now has eight teams in the top 30 of the NET and 11 teams in the top 50. That's significant because of the importance the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee puts on Quad 1 victories. A Quad 1 game is a home matchup against a top 30 team in the NET, or a road game against a top 50 team in the NET.

Big 12 Loses Ground

The Big 12 is down to seven teams in the top 30 of the NET and nine in the top 50.

Cincinnati and BYU have both tumbled in the NET after struggling the past two weeks. The Bearcats have lost four in a row and the Cougars have lost three in a row.

Arizona is still in great shape, though. The Wildcats can climb closer to the top 10 with wins over Baylor (No. 20) and Texas Tech (No. 19) this week.

Despite winning six in a row, coach Tommy Lloyd knows his team needs to play better.

"When we've struggled this year, we haven't made the best play for the team. When we've been good, we've made the best play for the team. It's really not complicated," Lloyd said after the win over UCF. "And I think that's probably almost all teams across the board. So we've got to be better. We've got to be better in those moments."

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