Why Arizona Was Never Concerned With Rankings

The Arizona Wildcats' rise to the No. 1 ranking in college basketball amid a 23-0 start keeps proving head coach Tommy Lloyd right.

The Wildcats entered the season as the No. 13 team in the Associated Press's Preseason Top 25, and it has aged poorly as the season has continued. Arizona was ranked behind teams like UCLA, St. John's, Florida, and Louisville at that point, but now, UCLA is unranked, and the others are outside the top-15.

arizona rankin — Feb 7, 2026; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd yells out to players during the first half of the game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at McKale Memorial Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Lloyd made it clear before the season started that he believes teams shouldn't put stock in the preseason polls because no one's played any games before they are published.

"We're into actually what we're doing on the court and where we're going," Lloyd told the media. "... That's my job as a coach, not to worry about voting results. This isn't an election. This is a competition, so I'm going to focus on making my team the best team possible."

Proving Lloyd Right

It's easy to see Lloyd's point, regardless of your own personal stance on the issue. As it turns out, Lloyd knew much more about his team than the media's voting members did. Arizona has been a clear-cut top team in the nation, and there are definitely not 12 teams better than the Wildcats.

"I just think that, having done this for a lot of years, you maybe have a little better feel for what you have than what people on the outside understand," Lloyd said after Saturday's blowout win over Oklahoma State. "... People probably looked at us and thought we were young, thought we couldn't shoot, and things like that. I felt really good all along about the collective pieces we have. I'm not going to say I expected to be where we're at right now, but I'm not blown away."

There was perhaps no further proof of Arizona's elite standing than its performances over the last few games. In the past two weeks, Arizona has survived a road challenge against a really good BYU team, a cross-state rivalry matchup with Arizona State, and just returned from a week off on Saturday with a 37-point win over an Oklahoma State team that knocked off BYU earlier in the week.

It was a tremendous defensive display, even for a team that prides itself on that end of the floor.

"I think it's just effort," senior guard Anthony Dell'Orso said postgame. "Wanting to prove something, keep teams to a low score. Shots will fall for us on offense, and if they don't, we'll always pride ourselves on defense because it's not whether shots go in or not that determines our energy. We can play defense all night."

Saturday's win gave more credence to Lloyd's claim and even gave alumni like Richard Jefferson the confidence to predict a Final Four appearance, not because they were necessarily facing a good team, but because they looked like a team that belonged in a different stratosphere. However, now that the rest of the country's experts agree that Lloyd has a great team, he remains cautious in overhyping his group.

Richard Jefferson and Luke Walton sending love to Tucson and @ArizonaMBB’s 2001 Final Four team! ❤️💙

“I believe for the first time we have a team that will go to the Final Four.” – RJ pic.twitter.com/VYSu95p3z8
— AZ Band Cat Sports (@AZBandCatSports) February 7, 2026

"I know this team has great potential," the head coach said. "I'm not going to make light of it, but I also know there's a lot of work to be done, there's a lot of challenges ahead, and I know that at inopportune times, things don't go your way.

"We're not scared of what's ahead, but by no means are we acting like we've been anointed. I know there's some really good coaches in this conference, I know they're licking their chops for a chance to play us. .. We're going to have to tee it up, and we're going to have to compete."

Arizona should have no trouble competing the rest of the way. The Wildcats have shown their dominance on a nightly basis, while other teams have sputtered, all because Tommy Lloyd had a better idea of the team he has than anyone else.

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