Jaden Bradley, a senior guard for the Arizona Wildcats, has emerged as a key leader and consistent scoring option during the 2025–26 college basketball season. Standing 6-3 and 200 lbs, Bradley entered this season as one of Arizona’s most experienced players, bringing both scoring and playmaking to a talented roster.

On the other end of the poll, Kentucky’s lackluster start to the season resulted in it falling out of the Top 25 on Monday. The Wildcats (5-4) lost at home to No. 14 North Carolina and then fell by 35 against No. 8 Gonzaga in Nashville, Tenn. USC and Indiana also dropped out after losses.

No. 2 Arizona downed No. 20 Auburn before a sellout crowd at McKale Center to boost the chances it will gain the No. 1 spot in the AP Top 25 poll.

Alabama basketball meets top-ranked Arizona in the C.M. Newton Classic. Stay here with The Tuscaloosa News for live updates from Birmingham.

Despite a strong 8-0 start and a No. 1 ranking in the AP poll, the Arizona Wildcats, like every team, have some minor weaknesses that could be exposed by elite opponents in due time.

Every year since the 2003-04 season, college basketball's national champion has been ranked in the top 12 of the Week 6 AP poll. With more than two decades of precedent established, it's time to take stock of what that could portend for the 2025-26 season.