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

The Wildcats moved back into the top five of the updated Coaches Poll after beating Arizona State and Oregon last week

By Cameron Salerno

Mar 4, 2024 at 12:30 pm ET • 1 min read

USATSI

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.

Illinois and Gonzaga made a substantial leap this week - jumping four spots each - to No. 12 and 18th, respectively. The Bulldogs are coming off a statement road win over Saint Mary's that puts them in prime position to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the 25th consecutive season.