Hey there. I am Gary Parrish. Welcome back to the I-On College Basketball podcast on CBS Sports Network. Matt Norlander is here with me,

and we're going to be here with you for the next hour, talking college hoops as week 11 unfolds.

And I want to start today with the top-ranked team in the country that is the Arizona Wildcats.

They're 16 and 0, got all but one first place vote in the AP poll this week.

Norlander, Arizona was 13th in the preseason AP polls.

So they were supposed to be good, but they weren't supposed to be this good.

What is it exactly that makes Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats the number one ranked team in the country?

Good to be with the GP.

Happy to talk some Wildcats ball because I've seen them in person already this season.

I saw when they won at Yukon earlier this year.

I'm going to see them in person later this month when they go out and play BYU.

I'm excited to get out there.

And this is shaping up right now, midway point of the season, right?

Arizona, as a function of Michigan's loss at home, shocking loss at home to Wisconsin, Arizona, I think has the best claim, the rightful claim to number one status in the country. It's number one in the AP poll. If that makes sense. It's been that way for weeks now as a function of how the AP voting body works. As you well know, it hasn't been number one in, you know, advanced analytics, but sitting there at number two, ain't too shabby. It's well-rounded on both sides of the ball. You know, top five offense, top 10 defense, tremendous rebounding team, good physicality, reliable from deep, got some good young talent. Coa Pete, Braden Burry's two of the 12 best freshmen, 10 best freshmen in the country play for Arizona this

season. And yet that's not their best player. Jaden Bradley's their most valuable player. He's an excellent

two-boy player. He's a five-year college vet. And his presence, his maturity, his leadership has

also been crucial. They've also, you know, Motivus crerivis, they've got some real size to them as well.

They've got reliable physicality with Toby O'Waka, who's among the better, just pure rebounders in all

of college basketball. So trying to give you a kind of an all-encompassing package of why Arizona is as

good as it is. But I also do think that in many ways, it flows down from the top of Tommy Lloyd's

coaching leadership. His general approach to life, you know him very well. He's, he's super

competitive and can coach with a chip on his shoulder in the best ways. But you also know,

...