By Patrick Klein
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Arizona climbed 15 spots to No. 4 in The Associated Press Top 25 basketball poll, the largest one-week jump in school history. The Wildcats were ranked 19th before beating No. 24 Michigan and No. 6 Georgetown on their way to winning the Preseason National Invitation Tournament last week. Arizona was unranked two weeks ago in the first poll of the season.
Arizona (4-0) also was ranked fourth in the USA TODAY/CNN coaches poll.
The move from unranked team to Top Five in the span of three polls was not surprising to the Wildcat players. Senior center Joseph Blair said the ranking only affirmed what he had been saying all along Ÿ trouble was, he said, no one in the media was listening.
"I played on the court with these guys and have seen what they can do," Blair said. "When you asked us what we thought of the team, we told you we're one of the best teams in the country. Whether you all believe us or not is up to you."
"I think we can go anywhere we want to go," sophomore guard Miles Simon said. "If we stay together we can go a long way."
Point guard Reggie Geary said while early season publicity is nice, what counts is winning in March.
"We're not satisfied until we're national champs at the end of the year," he said. "It's great to have a little recognition now, but a week ago we had no fans and now it seems like we have a million fans, so we're not looking too much into it."