Arizona deserves to be No. 1 after beating UConn, UCLA, and Florida

STORRS, Conn. – In the last 30 years, only three teams have opened the season with at least three of their first five wins against opponents ranked 15th, and all of those victories were on the road.

• 2001-02 Arizona
• 2020-21 Gonzaga

and?

These are Arizona wildcats.

Fourth-ranked Tommy Lloyd’s team joined the rare list Wednesday night after defeating third-ranked UConn, 71-67. The Wildcats won the first matchup between two top-five teams at Gampel Pavilion since No. 3 Connecticut beat Villanova 89-75 on February 26, 2006. The win was also Arizona’s first in a top-five matchup since the 2001 Final Four against Michigan State.

No coach ever has to apologize for any kind of road conquest against a power conference program, but it’s immediately noteworthy that the Wildcats benefited from holding the Huskies short. In addition to waiting a little longer for the collegiate debut of former five-star player Braylon Mullins, Dan Hurley’s team had to be without one of the best big men in the country, Tarris Reed Jr., who sat out with an ankle injury suffered in the Huskies’ win over BYU on Saturday in Boston.

Reed, who leads the team with 20.0 points per game, is the only player through the first two-and-a-half weeks of the season averaging at least 20.0 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. His scratch surprised Arizona. Jaden Bradley, a senior guard for the Wildcats, told me he didn’t realize they wouldn’t have to face Reed until he saw the big man not going through warmups before the game.

“Don’t take them seriously,” Bradley told his teammates. “They’re still a really good team.”

What followed was an Arizona rebound brawl, the likes of which would be nearly impossible to pull off against UConn.

“We know this changes the game,” Lloyd said of Reid’s sit-down. “But if you get a good jump, play it, then switch to the second one.”

The Wildcats outshot the Huskies, grabbing 43 boards to Connecticut’s 23. And that prowess around the rim was pivotal to earning the upset, because while Arizona is good in many aspects, it’s not a reliable group from the perimeter. Somehow, for the second time this season, Arizona beat the No. 3-ranked team while hitting fewer than five 3-pointers. The Wildcats also did so on opening night against Florida.

Zona’s athleticism was the key factor in achieving this win and elevating the team to the pinnacle of college basketball. The Wildcats held Connecticut star senior forward Alex Karaban to eight points, 10.3 below his average entering the night. After junior sharpshooter Solo Ball hit some inspired shots early, Lloyd’s crew mostly muted the shooting guard’s impact in the second half.

“We got scammed,” Hurley said. “It’s going to be a bad photo shoot when you get out of here. There’s street fighting going on in the paint, and you know, guys can’t watch the fights. You can’t stand outside when your guys are in a fight. You get into the fight, you don’t stand on the sidelines of the fight.”

However, the Gampel Pavilion crowd was invested all night, creating a deafening noise as UConn overcame a 13-point deficit to go up 62-60 at the 3-minute mark on Jaylen Stewart’s breakup layup.

“I told my teammates before the game, it’s our first road test,” Bradley told CBS Sports. “California, it’s probably going to be a split crowd. Florida, we might have more fans there in Vegas. This is our first away crowd. They hit one shot, and it felt like they hit five.”

Bradley’s up-and-down drive to make it 67-64 (after he patiently worked his way to a low block) with 16.3 seconds remaining was the latest in a growing highlight reel of the clutch and aggressive play of one of the best guards in college basketball.

“When you have an unselfish player, and also a footballer, who has the guts to do that at the end of the game, that’s pretty special,” Lloyd said.

They were selling $2 Miller Lites all night, and lines spilled into the lobby. By the end of the night, the top five list had come together for the moment.

“I’d love to see what this place is like on a $1 beer night,” Lloyd said afterward.

He was all smiles, and he should be. Because what Arizona has done is the most impressive thing in college hoops through the first 17 days of the season. It started with a stunning 93-87 win over No. 3 Florida in the opener in Las Vegas. Then, last Friday, the Hurricanes came from behind with a 69-65 victory over their Classic rival, No. 15 UCLA.

But traveling across the country, getting into UConn’s home dome and controlling most of the game to get a third win among a top-15 team?

This is the No. 1 team in college basketball. Be it that better Up for debate, because college hoops has been blessed with a string of really good teams for the 2025-26 campaign.

However, there is no debate about the best resume. Arizona clears everything, for now, with ease.

Among his many great attributes as a coach, one of Tommy Lloyd’s best is that he plans in a way that benefits Arizona while elevating college basketball.

The fact that he wants to win the big game has everything to do with why he’s so good at winning it.

Arizona has 16 wins in away games versus ranked teams since Lloyd arrived in Tucson in 2021. Truly impressive: Arizona’s win over UConn was Lloyd’s 25th win against a ranked opponent, giving him the second-most wins over ranked teams in the first five seasons of a coaching career in the past 30 years. Only Tom Izzo, 31 since the start of his tenure in 1995, has more.

Lloyd has scheduled home-and-homes with Duke, UConn and Auburn. Give it some time – there will be more in the coming years – plus a variety of creative neutral-site fights, Arizona will be a reliable part as long as Lloyd is running the show.

Even without a Final Four on his resume (yet), Lloyd built his reputation as one of the best coaches in college basketball because he chased those types of games. It is now 7-4 in games where both teams are ranked in the top five. By winning two games against the top three teams on just five results, this Arizona team has set a school record for most teams in a single season…and we still have four more months to go.

“When you get opportunities like that, give yourself a chance and take it,” Lloyd told CBS Sports. “Maybe that’s the magic. That we understand the moment, but we really want to try to treat it like any other game. We’re not afraid of those things, and frankly, we’re not afraid of losing those things. You know what I mean? Because we understand that’s part and parcel of this deal.”

Which makes it even more impressive: Arizona is starting three freshmen (Koa Pitt, Brayden Burriss, Ivan Kharchenkov), who are a far cry from playing at the peak of their powers. Bradley is the rock and 7-foot-2 Levithan Motijus Krevas is a load, but the roster mix here is impressive. The team is averaging over 25 points off the bench per game, making the Wildcats one of the deepest teams in the country.

But it all starts with Bradley. Arizona is the No. 1 team in college basketball — or at least it should be when the polls are updated next Monday — because it boasts an irreplaceable top team that, astoundingly, wasn’t even voted onto the Big 12’s 10-man first-team roster. It was a huge mistake, to say the least.

“I don’t think JB gets enough credit for his work and how much he’s improved,” Lloyd told CBS Sports. “That’s not to say he hasn’t always been really good, but he’s really worked on improving his game, honed his game, fixed some weaknesses and emphasized some strengths. He has a quiet confidence and belief in himself that rubs off on his teammates. He’s really special.”

This team could be special too, though Lloyd wasn’t about to let the win inflate the team’s ego or vanity.

“Florida could have gone another direction. The UCLA game could have gone another direction, so let’s not think we’ve solved all the world’s problems,” Lloyd said. He added: “This win here does not mean that we will be a great team in January or February.”

But it’s great signal That Arizona will be. It is important to have Bradley as a leader. Last season, Arizona State started 4-5 against tough competition before finding its footing in January. Last season’s team finished fourth and lost in the Sweet 16 to Cooper Flagg’s Monster Duke team. This Arizona set is even better. Three wins against a potentially good NCAA Tournament seed outside of your home state is about as strong a predictive indicator as there is.

“It’s a long season. We’ve been harping on our guys: ‘Keep building,'” Bradley said. “I was part of the team last year, and we didn’t have a great start to the year. That’s hanging in the back of my head.”

The season is a long race, and we’re not even at the quarter pole yet, but everyone is chasing the Wildcats right now. Nobody looked stronger, and the exciting part is that this team can still improve a lot between now and March.