Arizona already has wins over Florida, UCLA and UConn; the Wildcats are undeniably college hoops' No. 1 team

STORRS, Conn. -- In the past 30 years, only three teams have opened a season with at least three of their first five wins against top-15-ranked opponents, with all of those victories coming away from home.

• 2001-02 Arizona
• 2020-21 Gonzaga

And?

These Arizona Wildcats. 

Tommy Lloyd's fourth-ranked team joined the rarefied list Wednesday night after maneuvering past third-ranked UConn, 71-67. The Wildcats won the first game between two top-five teams at Gampel Pavilion since No. 3 Connecticut beat No. 2 Villanova 89-75 on Feb. 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 worth immediately noting that the Wildcats did get the benefit of catching the Huskies shorthanded. In addition to waiting just a bit longer for the collegiate debut of former five-star prospect Braylon Mullins, Dan Hurley's team had to go without one of the better big men in the country, senior Tarris Reed Jr., who sat due to an ankle injury he suffered in the Huskies' win vs. BYU on Saturday in Boston. 

Reed, whose 20.0 points per game leads the team, 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 took Arizona by surprise. Wildcats senior guard Jaden Bradley told me he didn't realize they weren't going to have to face Reed until he saw the big man wasn't going through pregame warmups. 

"Don't take them lightly," Bradley said to his teammates. "They're still a really good team." 

What ensued was an Arizona rebounding ruckus, the likes of which is almost never possible against UConn. 

"We know that changes the game," Lloyd said of Reed's sit-out. "But if you get a good hop, field it, turn two." 

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

'Zona's physicality was the factor in getting this win and lifting the team's profile to the top of college basketball. The Wildcats held Connecticut senior star forward Alex Karaban to eight points, 10.3 below his average entering the night. After junior sniper Solo Ball hit some inspiring shots early, Lloyd's crew mostly muted the shooting guard's impact in the second half. 

"We got punked," Hurley said. "It's going to be a bad film session coming out of here. There's a street fight going on in the paint and, you know, men can't watch fights. You can't stand on the outside when your buddies are in a fight. You get in the fight. You don't stand on the periphery of the fight."

The Gampel Pavilion crowd was nevertheless invested all night, hitting a deafening din when UConn overcame a 13-point deficit to go up 62-60 at the 3-minute mark on a Jaylin Stewart broken-play layup. 

"I told my guys before the game, it's our first road test," Bradley told CBS Sports. "California, it's probably a split crowd. Florida, we probably have more fans there in Vegas. This is our first away-game crowd. They hit one shot, it felt like they hit five."

Bradley's up-and-under to make it 67-64 (after patiently working his way to the low block) with 16.3 seconds remaining was the latest in a growing highlight reel of clutch, heady play for one of the best guards in college basketball. 

"When you have a point guard who's selfless, and also baller, and has the cojones to make and take that at the end of a game, it's pretty special," Lloyd said. 

They were selling $2 Miller Lites all night long, and the lines flowed into the concourse. By the end of the night, a top-five billing met the moment. 

"I'd love to see what this place is on $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 began with a head-turning 93-87 win over No. 3 Florida in the opener in Las Vegas. Then, last Friday, a 69-65 come-from-behind twister over classic rival, No. 15 UCLA. 

But to travel across the country and step into UConn's home dome and control most of the game to get a third top-15 win?

This is the No. 1 team in college basketball. Whether it's the best is up for debate, because college hoops has been blessed with a litany of really good teams for this 2025-26 campaign.

There is no argument over the best résumé, however. Arizona clears all, for now, with ease.

Of his many great traits as a coach, one of Tommy Lloyd's best is he schedules in a way that benefits Arizona while uplifting college basketball. 

The fact he desires the big game has to have something to do with why he's so good at winning them.

Arizona has 16 wins in games away from home vs. ranked teams since Lloyd got to Tucson in 2021. A real wow: Arizona's win over UConn was Lloyd's 25th vs. a ranked opponents, which gives 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's 31 from 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 years to come -- in addition to the variety of creative neutral-site battles Arizona will reliably be a part of so long as Lloyd is running the show.

Even without a Final Four on his résumé (yet), Lloyd has built up a reputation as one of the best coaches in college basketball because he's hunted these kinds of games. He's now 7-4 in matchups where both teams are ranked in the top five. By winning two games vs. top-three teams just five results in, this Arizona team tied a school record for most in one season ... and we still have four-plus months to go. 

"When you get opportunities like this, give yourself a chance and take advantage," Lloyd told CBS Sports. "Maybe that is the magic. That we understand the moment, but we want to really try to approach it like any other game. We're not scared of these things, and honestly, we're not scared of losing these things. You know what I mean? Because we understand that's part and parcel of this deal."

Making it even more impressive: Arizona starts three freshmen (Koa Peat, Brayden Burries, Ivan Kharchenkov), who are far from playing at the peak of their powers. Bradley is the rock and 7-foot-2 leviathan Motiejus Krivas is a load, but the roster blend here is impressive. The team is averaging more than 25 bench points per game, making the Wildcats one of the deeper teams in the country. 

But it all starts with Bradley. Arizona is the No. 1 team in college basketball -- or at least should be when the polls refresh next Monday -- because it has an unflappable senior who, stunningly, wasn't even voted to the Big 12's preseason 10-man First Team list. It was an egregious oversight, 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. "And that's not to say that he wasn't always really good, but he's really worked on his game and honed his game and fixed some weaknesses and accentuated some strengths. He just has a quiet confidence and belief in himself that rubs off on his teammates. Just really special." 

This team could be a special one as well, though Lloyd wasn't even flirting with letting the win inflate the team's ego, or his own.

"Florida could have gone another direction. The UCLA game could have gone in another direction, so let's not think we've got all the world's problems solved," Lloyd said. "This win here isn't going to mean we're going to be a great team in January or February."

But it is a great indication that Arizona will be. And having Bradley as the leader is important. Last season, Arizona got off to a 4-5 start against tough competition before finding its groove in January. Last season's team got a 4-seed and lost in the Sweet 16 against the monster Duke squad led by Cooper Flagg. This Arizona group is better. Three wins vs. probable good NCAA Tournament seeds outside your home state is as strong of a predictive indicator as there is.

"It's a long season. We've been harping on our guys: keep building," Bradley said. "I was a part of the team last year, 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's chasing the Wildcats for now. No one's looked stronger, and the tantalizing part is, this team can still get a lot better between now and March.