The Wildcats received a total of 242 votes in the second edition of this year's MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings and stand tied for third nationally with Arizona State. Arizona's ranking is three spots higher than in the preseason poll, which ranked the squad No. 6. Georgia topped the poll with 317 votes, just ahead of No. 2 Clemson (310). Texas rounds out the top five with 240 points.

Arizona opened the year with a third-place finish in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate on Sept. 15-16 then added a tie for fourth at The Preview by Ping & Golfweek on Sept. 25-26. To date, the Wildcats are averaging 291.0 strokes per round.

Individually, sophomore Ricky Barnes is ranked No. 4 nationally in the MasterCard/CGF poll. His eighth-place finish at The Preview moved him up two slots in the poll. Barnes has seven top-10 finishes in 16 career events.

The MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings, administered by the College Golf , are the official rankings of the Rolex Collegiate Tour. The voting is done by a panel of men's collegiate golf coaches. The next regular season poll will be released on Nov. 1.

In other collegiate golf news, the Arizona men also enjoyed a jump in the most recent Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. On the strength of its fourth-place effort at The Preview by Ping & Golfweek, the Wildcats moved up seven places to No. 5. UA is the highest rated Pac-10 team in the index.

Two Arizona golfers are also rated individually, as sophomore Reid Hatley is rated No. 10, while teammate Barnes is ranked 44th. Hatley's tie for fifth place at The Preview moved him up 14 spots since the Sept. 22 poll.

The Arizona varsity will next be in action on Mon.-Tue., Oct. 16-17, at the Jerry Pate Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.