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Arizona continued its ascent all the way to No. 3 in the latest Coaches Poll after a week filled with big games and notable results between ranked opponents. No team in the nation has a better résumé than the Wildcats, who have already downed a pair of preseason top-10 programs amid their scorching-hot start. 

Most notably, Arizona has triumphed against No. 8 Florida and No. 7 UConn, each of the last two national champions. The Wildcats supplanted the Huskies, who dropped four spots this week, in the top three of the Coaches Poll. 

Arizona wasn't quite able to climb past Purdue at No. 1 and Houston at No. 2, but the Wildcats did receive five first-place votes -- their first of the season and more than any other team outside the Boilermakers. 

Across the country, another Wildcat team clad in blue is headed in the opposite direction. No. 18 Kentucky plummeted out of the top 15 entirely following its Nov. 18 loss to Michigan State in the State Farm Champions Classic. Kentucky has now lost its two games against ranked opponents by an average of 12.5 points. 

The Spartans, who also boast another SEC win over Arkansas, crept closer to the top 10 by landing at No. 12 in this week's rankings. 

Here is the full Nov. 24 Coaches Poll after the third week of the 2025-26 college basketball season. 

First-place votes in parenthesis

Coaches Poll 

  1. Purdue (23) 
  2. Houston (2) 
  3. Arizona (5) 
  4. Duke (1)
  5. Louisville 
  6. Michigan
  7. UConn 
  8. Florida
  9. Alabama
  10. Gonzaga
  11. BYU
  12. Michigan State
  13. Iowa State 
  14. Illinois 
  15. St. John's 
  16. Tennessee 
  17. North Carolina 
  18. Kentucky
  19. UCLA
  20. Texas Tech 
  21. Arkansas 
  22. NC State
  23. Vanderbilt 
  24. Indiana 
  25. Auburn 

Others receiving votes: Wisconsin 51; Saint Mary's 30; Baylor 27; Oregon 23; Georgetown 23; Kansas 19; Ole Miss 15; USC 11; Missouri 11; Nebraska 9; Creighton 9; Virginia 8; Utah State 6; Ohio State 6; Iowa 6; SMU 4; Clemson 4; Saint Louis 2; Butler 1