College basketball rankings: Arizona jumps to No. 5 in Coaches Poll; Duke, UNC in top 10 ahead of showdown

Arizona jumped two spots to No. 5 in the updated Coaches Poll released Monday after recording statement wins over Arizona State and Oregon. The Wildcats could guarantee a share of the Pac-12 regular-season title by going 2-0 against UCLA and USC this week.

The Wildcats have won nine of their last 10 games — with the lone loss coming to Washington State — heading into the final week of the regular season. Washington State currently sits 0.5 games ahead of Arizona in the Pac-12 standings. Because WSU owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Arizona, it would earn the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament by winning its final game against Washington on Thursday.

Duke jumped two spots to No. 8 ahead of its marquee showdown against No. 7 North Carolina this weekend. The Blue Devils could clinch a share of the ACC regular-season title by winning their final two games against in-state rivals NC State and North Carolina. UNC would clinch at least a share of the conference title with a win over Notre Dame on Tuesday.

BYU re-entered the rankings after knocking off Kansas on the road and TCU at home last weekend. The Cougars are in their inaugural season as a member of the Big 12 and check in at No. 23 this week.

Coaches Poll

1. Houston (28)
2. UConn (3)
3. Purdue (1)
4. Tennessee
5. Arizona
6. Iowa State
7. North Carolina
8. Duke
9. Marquette
10. Creighton
11. Baylor
12. Illinois
13. Kentucky
14. Auburn
15. Kansas
16. South Carolina
17. Alabama
18. Gonzaga
19. San Diego State
20. Washington State
21. Saint Mary’s
22. Utah State
23. BYU
24. South Florida
25. Florida

Others receiving votes: Dayton 31; Texas Tech 24; Nevada 24; Boise State 16; App State 13; James Madison 10; Oklahoma 8; Northwestern 7; Indiana State 5; Clemson 5; TCU 4; Wake Forest 3; Nebraska 1;