Already playing all their nonconference games at home next season, the Arizona women’s basketball team also received a convenient Big 12 schedule Monday.
On their 18-game conference schedule, the Wildcats were assigned two games each with ASU, Colorado and Utah while playing every other team only once. That means they will only have to travel to the Central Time Zone four times and the Eastern Time Zone only during a Feb. 7-10 road swing to West Virginia and Cincinnati.
Arizona will also get a chance to knock out one of its two-game road swings before spring semester classes begin, playing at Colorado on Dec. 31 and at Texas Tech on Jan. 3.
The Big 12 said opponents were selected “to best balance the schedule in terms of travel and competitiveness” and its decision means the Wildcats will only have one game against the conference’s top four teams in the NET ratings last season: TCU (8), Kansas State (9), West Virginia (13) and Baylor (15) — although they will face all of those teams on the road except Kansas State.
Utah, which finished at 27 in the NET last season, and ASU (133) both faced Arizona twice last season, as did BYU. This season, the Wildcats will only have to play BYU (86) at McKale Center while facing Colorado (56) both home and away.
Utah will both open and close Arizona’s conference season. The Wildcats will host the Utes on Dec. 22 and finish regular-season play by traveling to play them in Salt Lake City on Feb. 28.
The Wildcats’ home schedule will be highlighted in early February, when they will host both Oklahoma State (28 in last season’s final NET) and Kansas State within a four-day period.
The Big 12 Tournament is scheduled for March 4-8, or through March 9 if BYU reaches the finals, in Kansas City.
“The Big 12 is one of the toughest leagues in the country, and we know every game is going to test us,” first-year UA coach Becky Burke said in a statement. “Our team is ready for that challenge and prepared to compete at the highest level.
“Playing conference games in McKale is a huge advantage because our fans create one of the most electric environments in college basketball. There’s nothing like McKale magic, and I can’t wait to see it on full display this season.”
While Arizona has control over its nonconference schedule, Burke has said it was mostly set up before she took over the Wildcats last spring. Arizona traveled to face two of the Wildcats’ nonconference opponents last season, Chicago State (345) and NAU (88), and the Lumberjacks beat UA 92-75 in Flagstaff.
Overall, this season, Arizona’s 11 nonconference opponents earned an average NET rating of 215 last season. The opponent NET ratings last season for UA’s 18 Big 12 games — counting ASU, Utah and Colorado twice — averaged 65.2.
The Big 12 ranked fourth in overall conference NET ranking last season, according to WarrenNolan.com, behind the SEC, Big Ten and ACC. The Pac-12 ranked first in 2023-24, the last season the Wildcats competed in it before leaving for the Big 12.
Coach Becky Burke gives autographs and chats with fans during a meet-and-greet event with the Arizona women’s basketball team at the Tucson Racquet Club on July 28.
