Not only did Arizona’s over UCLA lift the Wildcats back into the Top 10 of the Associated Press poll Monday, it also left some more important long-term implications.
The Wildcats (17-3, 6-3 Pac-12) are now in a four-way loss-column tie for second place behind the first-place Bruins (17-3, 8-1), owning potential tiebreaking wins over USC and ASU, leaving Arizona on a pace to at least capture a first-round bye in the conference tournament.
What’s more, Arizona was rated a No. 2 NCAA Tournament seed in CBS’ latest mock bracket Monday, while NCAA.com had the Wildcats as a No. 3. (ESPN did not update its bracket after the weekend but still had UA as a No. 2 seed before the Wildcats beat UCLA).
However, while Arizona moved up from No. 11 to No. 6 in the AP Top 25, the computer metrics aren’t quite as high on the Wildcats. UA ranks No. 11 in the NCAA’s official NET ratings, while Torvik has the Wildcats at No. 10, Sagarin has them at 13 and they rank No. 15 in Kenpom.
UCLA dropped from No. 5 to No. 8 in the AP poll, while the only other ranked UA opponent this season, Tennessee, moved up from No. 9 to No. 4. The Wildcats defeated the Volunteers (16-3, 6-1 SEC) 75-70 on Dec. 17 at McKale Center.
Bruins might return
There’s a chance the Wildcats will get one more crack at the Bruins inside McKale Center before UCLA departs for the Big Ten in 2024-25.
Although the official schedule rotation the Pac-12 released in May 2021 has UCLA and Arizona skipping their game at McKale next season because of the conference’s unbalanced 20-game schedule, that schedule was based on a rotation from 2021-22 through 2030-31 that is fully balanced over that decade.
But because UCLA and USC have announced they are leaving the conference in 2024, that schedule rotation could get blown up after this season. A Pac-12 spokesman confirmed Monday that with USC and UCLA leaving “the conference is actively reviewing schedule formats for future seasons” — including possibly the 2023-24 season before the Bruins and Trojans depart.
That leaves the door open for Arizona — and ESPN or Fox — to push hard to get the Bruins back into McKale Center one more time in conference play next season.
As for the current 2023-24 schedule, Arizona’s other “skip” would be its road game against Oregon State. The Wildcats are scheduled to play at Oregon and against USC at McKale Center in early December, games that typically wrap around the Pac-12 football championship game.
Bamba back for WSU
While Washington State was swept at Utah and Colorado over the weekend, including a 58-55 loss to the Buffaloes on Sunday, the Cougars got leading scorer TJ Bamba back in time for their game against Arizona on Thursday.
After collecting nine points and three assists in WSU’s upset win over UA on Jan. 7, Bamba missed three games with a hand injury. He returned to play 32 minutes at Colorado, collecting 18 points, two assists and two steals, driving inside often and taking five trips to the free-throw line (where he was 2 for 5).
“They were pressuring so hard, we needed someone to go by somebody, and he did,” WSU coach Kyle Smith said afterward. “Going to the post was really important. That’s kind of what you have to do when they’re playing (like that). Hopefully he’s getting healthier and gives us a similar effort on Thursday.”
Carlson named POW
Utah’s Branden Carlson was named Pac-12 Player of the Week after averaging 25.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in the Utes’ home sweep over WSU and Washington. Arizona nominated Azuolas Tubelis, who averaged 14.5 points and 13.5 rebounds in Arizona’s wins over USC and UCLA.
OSU’s Jordan Pope was named Freshman of Week after scoring 19 points in the Beavers’ 68-48 win at California.
McKale Center was built at the University of Arizona in the early 1970s. There have been updates through the years.
