Just about every outlet that covers women’s basketball releases a Top 25 for the next season just minutes after the national title game is complete. Last year, Arizona (7-0) wasn’t in ESPN's “way too early” Top 25 despite having just fallen a point short of a national championship.
That disrespect continued into the 2021-22 preseason when the Associated Press voters considered the Wildcats to be a fringe Top 25 team, at best. A month into the season, all that has changed. The team now stands in the Top 10 in the AP poll, NET rankings, and ESPN bracketology.