Coming off Big Ten Conference wins over Washington and Oregon last week, the UCLA Bruins will break for some nonconference action against the Arizona Wildcats in an NBA arena on Saturday.
Anything about that sound a little off?
It’s not. None of it.
Not in 2024, that is.
There may be no single event in which the Pac-12’s implosion and the powerful influence of NIL in today’s college game collide as in Saturday’s UA-UCLA game at the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
“The whole thing’s weird,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said in Los Angeles on Wednesday when asked about playing UA in Phoenix. “I mean, it’s weird that we’re not in the same league. Extremely weird. But there’s lot of things weird in this day and age.”
UCLA’s Kenneth Nwuba (14), Sebastian Mack (12), Lazar Stefanovic, rear, head coach Mick Cronin, second from front right, and Dylan Andrews (2) wait for a call from the referees during the second half of a matchup against Arizona in Tucson on Jan. 20, 2024.
For decades the premier rivals in the Pac-12, Arizona and UCLA agreed to keep up their rivalry going immediately after the conference’s breakup last spring. But while 105 of their 113 previous meetings have been held in Tucson or Los Angeles – counting four Pac-10 Tournament games played in downtown L.A. — they agreed on a three-year deal to be played out solely at neutral or semi-neutral sites: Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles (in a venue TBA not named Pauley Pavilion).
Especially after Bruins center Mac Etienne was arrested for spitting on UA student fans in a 2021-22 game at McKale Center, the rivalry appeared as heated as ever on campuses. But when asked last summer why the teams would not play at McKale or Pauley, Cronin said just that “there are promoters involved and, look, you’ve got to pay players.”
Translation: There are often more opportunities for NIL fundraisers around neutral-site games, for which promoters also can arrange payments to schools that they can use for the expected revenue-sharing with players in the future.
Arizona guard Caleb Love (2) rises for dunk to finish off a steal against UCLA during the first half in their Pac 12 game at McKale Center, Jan. 20, 2024.
In the Wildcats’ case, the Arizona Assist collective has been selling hospitality packages around the UA-UCLA game for $5,000 and $10,000, with the proceeds filtering down to compensation for players. The collective also features an upgraded “Wildcat Village” membership for $3,000 a year that includes events with UA players and two tickets to the Arizona-UCLA game.
The Bruins, meanwhile, are supported by a collective known as the “Men of Westwood.” Its funds have helped Cronin acquire a vastly improved roster that includes four new starters from the transfer portal: Tyler Bilodeau (Oregon State), Kobe Johnson (USC), Skyy Clark (Louisville) and Eric Dailey (Oklahoma State).
So if any of that means Arizona and UCLA don’t play at McKale or Pauley, well, at least they’re playing somewhere.
“I think we want to play UCLA. And UCLA wants to play us,” said Matt King, UA’s director of operations. “The easiest way to get that done was on neutral sites.”
Besides, Cronin said, that’s just the way it is now.
“This whole thing about neutral-site games? You know, in the old days that just didn’t happen. You played home-and-homes at campus sites,” Cronin said. “The old days are the old. That’s why they’re called old days. The new days are neutral-site games and NIL games. The good thing about it is the NCAA Tournament is at a neutral site and in big arenas, so from an experience standpoint” that helps.
Cronin said players prefer to play in NBA arenas anyway. Today’s high-level college players all aspire to play in NBA arenas regularly, of course.
“I’m excited,” UCLA guard Dylan Andrews said. “In high school I actually got to play in the Footprint Center. Their arena is dope. And it’s going to be another road game because Phoenix is only two hours away from Tucson. The Arizona fan base usually comes out to anywhere they go.”
In that sense, it could still be a rowdy scene Saturday, campus or no campus.
Arizona is expected to attract both fans traveling from Tucson and alums who live in and around Phoenix, the kind of mix that resulted in the Wildcats receiving a loud base of support while playing Alabama in the Footprint Center last season.
UCLA wing Kobe Johnson, the former USC defensive stopper who has faced the Wildcats in a number of venues already, also expected a spirited crowd regardless of the location.
“It should be fun,” Johnson said. “I think the atmosphere is going to be amazing as it always is. I’m pretty sure Arizona fans will travel. I’m pretty sure UCLA fans will travel. So it’ll be an intense game from start to finish. Can’t wait to battle it out.”
Rim shots
- UA coach Tommy Lloyd will hold his first radio show of the season on Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Union Public House. The weekly show has moved from Mondays to Thursdays because of the upcoming Big 12 schedule in which the Wildcats be playing every week on Saturdays and on either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday.
The show will be held weekly except Dec. 26 and Jan. 2 through the regular season, carried on 1290-AM or online at wildcatsradio1290.com.
- The Arizona Alumni Association will hold a pre-game event at Stadium Sports Bar and Grill near the Footprint Center at 10 a.m. on Saturday that is open to all fans.
