Arizona Takes Top Spot in Poll
Arizona, with all five starters back from a team that was a top seed in the NCAA tournament, edged Duke on Monday as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 poll.
The Wildcats, who were the preseason No. 1 in 1997 after they won the national championship, had a sizable lead in first-place votes from the national media panel, but finished with just four more points than the Blue Devils.
“This one has fewer question marks than probably any team that we’ve had,” Arizona Coach Lute Olson said of the group that includes sophomore guards Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas, junior forwards Richard Jefferson and Michael Wright and center Loren Woods.
Arizona, which finished 25-7 last season and lost to Wisconsin in the second round of the NCAA tournament, had 37 first-place votes and 1,753 points. Duke was first on 27 ballots with 1,749 points.
UCLA is ranked No. 17 in the poll and USC is No. 23.
*
AP POLL, D7
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
