TEMPE -- A balanced offense, rapidly evolving defense, and phenomenal coaching job by Bobby Hurley have catapulted the 2025-26 Arizona State basketball program to a 9-2 record to start the season, with another opportunity to pick up a quality win on Wednesday night against the UCLA Bruins.

The Wildcats added to one of the best résumés in the country by defeating Alabama 96-75. Arizona boasts five ranked wins: Florida, UCLA, UConn, Alabama and Auburn. Michigan received the second-most first-place votes (15) after defeating Villanova and Maryland. Duke, another team that challenged for the No. 1 spot, was idle.

Statement games often define the mid-December stretch of the college basketball season, but the AP Top 25 poll, released on December 15, 2025, proves the action is only heating up. While Arizona continues to look like a juggernaut at the top,

College basketball coaches have been careful using their new ability to challenge some official's calls, including Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd, who is 2-0 with them so far.

Also on the rise this week are No. 14 Arkansas and No. 22 Virginia, both up three spots. No. 12 Vanderbilt, No. 13 North Carolina and No. 17 Kansas climbed two spots while No. 20 St. John's moved up by one. There was no movement inside the top 11.

The Wildcats are once again ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll and this time, the ranking feels less like a momentary peak and more like a reflection of sustain

Arizona has taken the top spot in the AP Top 25 men's college basketball poll. This comes after a perfect start to the season.

Arizona claims the No. 1 spot on Andy Katz's Power 37 rankings for the second week in a row while Gonzaga cracks the top 10. Here's how the last week of college basketball shook up the rankings.