Arizona men's basketball could end up facing both a former (Washington) and current (BYU) league rival at the 2026 Maui Invitational.
While Arizona has been long confirmed for the 2026 version of the prestigious early season event, after last participating in 2022-23, the Maui Invitational on Wednesday announced the entire field.
In addition to UA, BYU and Washington, the field will include Clemson, Colorado State, Ole Miss, Providence and VCU. While brackets will not likely be announced until sometime in 2026, the Wildcats are likely to be placed in an opposite bracket as BYU since they are conference rivals.
Arizona and West Virginia were placed on opposite brackets of the Battle 4 Atlantis last season though they ended up meeting anyway in the third-place game that the Mountaineers won 83-76 in overtime.
During Tommy Lloyd's second season as Arizona's coach, the Wildcats won the 2022 Maui Invitational by beating Cincinnati, San Diego State and Creighton. Then-UA center Oumar Ballo was named the event's most valuable player.
Arizona’s Oumar Ballo, center, holds the winning trophy after Arizona defeated Creighton 81-79 to win the 2022 Maui Invitational. Ballo, the Maui MVP, was named Pac-12 Player of the Week the following week.
Arizona is 17-8 over eight previous Maui Invitationals and won the three-game tournament in 2000, 2014 and 2022. It is allowed to participate once every four seasons.
The Wildcats will not play in a traditional multi-team event such as the Maui Invitational or Battle 4 Atlantis during the 2025-26 season. Instead, they are hosting Denver (Nov. 24) and Norfolk State (Nov. 29) at McKale as part of their own "MTE" in order to qualify for the 31-game scheduling maximum.
