Arizona Wildcats NCAA Basketball Betting
The first season in the Big 12 won’t be easy for an Arizona team that didn’t regularly face many of those schools, but there’s plenty of action to worry about long before conference play. The Wildcats then headed to the Bahamas, facing Davidson on November 27th, to kick off the Battle 4 Atlantis. They played two more games in the tournament in the following days with other teams, such as Indiana or Gonzaga. Overall, it was an impressive start to get ready for the season.
Just four nonconference games remain for the Wildcats and all of them come in the state of Arizona. Three of those contests are much easier matchups, though December 14th will be a little trickier. The Wildcats head to Phoenix, facing off against former conference rival UCLA in their last big tune-up before league play.
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There’s no such thing as an easy Big 12 schedule, though the schedule certainly does the Wildcats no favors in their debut season. There are only a few schools that they’ll see both at home and on the road, and that list includes Baylor, Iowa State, and BYU, three teams ranked in the preseason polls. Honestly, every road game is a challenge in this conference, starting from their first one at Cincinnati in early January.
Among other notable parts of their league schedule, they will get a pair of matchups with Arizona State and actually host both Colorado and Utah, the other teams that bailed on the Pac-12 with them. Their game against Houston comes on February 15th in Tucson, but the regular season ends at Kansas on March 8th. Senior Night is four days earlier against the Sun Devils.
There’s certainly been a resurgence at Arizona since the hiring of Tommy Lloyd back in 2021. The longtime former Gonzaga assistant has had one of the most successful starts to a head coaching career, winning 88 games across his first three seasons. Two of those seasons ended in Pac-12 titles and trips to the Sweet Sixteen, with last year being the latest example of that success.
The Wildcats dominated the final three years of the Pac-12, with those two aforementioned titles and a remarkable 47-13 mark in conference play. The pair of Sweet Sixteen runs showcase Arizona’s ability to win beyond the Pac-12, and that’s certainly necessary moving forward. This season begins a new era for the Wildcats as they join a Big 12 that’s absolutely packed with basketball talent.
Beyond those worries, change came in a major way in the offseason when a number of Arizona’s players from last season either transferred or exhausted their eligibility. This roster looks markedly different than some of the teams from recent seasons. Not every face is new, though Lloyd and his staff have effectively recruited the pieces to make the Wildcats a national contender again this season.
Arizona now faces a significantly stiffer challenge in the Big 12. As they adjust to life in their new league, we’ll be taking a closer look at exactly what to expect in year one. Our first step is looking at the important pieces on this roster and how they’ll fit together in the coming season. After also examining the schedule, we’ll make a few more overarching statements about the team. Will this be another memorable year in Tucson?
One thing that hasn’t been specifically mentioned is that Lloyd has a knack for international recruiting, having done plenty of that during his decades at Gonzaga and continuing the process with the Wildcats. There’s always been an international flavor with his teams, and that certainly continues with some of the pieces this season, both old and new. It’s all about finding the best talent available and Arizona has some of that again this year.
Arizona is a traditional power and will be a draw for top talent. That will translate into success.
Latest NCAA Tournament Results
| YEAR |
RESULT |
| 2024 |
Lost Sweet Sixteen vs. (6) Clemson 72–77 |
| 2023 |
Lost First Round vs. (15) Princeton 55–59 |
| 2022 |
Lost Sweet Sixteen vs. (5) Houston, 72–60 |
| 2018 |
Lost First Round vs. (13) Buffalo, 68–89 |
| 2017 |
Lost Sweet Sixteen vs. (11) Xavier, 71–73 |
| 2016 |
Lost First Round vs. (11) Wichita State, 55–65 |
| 2015 |
Lost Elite Eight vs. (1) Wisconsin, 78–85 |
2024-2025 NCAA Basketball Top Teams
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