Arizona was named the NCAA Tournament's No. 2 overall team and placed as the No. 1 seed in the South Region, with an opening game on Friday in San Diego.
The Wildcats (31-3) will face the winner of a First Four game between Wright State (21-13) and Bryant (22-9)Β on Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.Β
If Arizona wins Friday, the Wildcats would play the winner of an first-round game between No. 8 Seton Hall (21-10) and No. 9 TCU (20-12) on Sunday. If the Wildcats win two games in San Diego, they would advance to San Antonio, where they could face rematches with Tennessee (No. 3) and Illinois (No. 4).
Arizona played close games at both Illinois and Tennessee in December, beating the Illini 83-79 on Dec. 11 but losing 77-73 to the Volunteers on Dec. 22. The Wildcats could face No. 4 seed Illinois in the Sweet 16 and either Tennessee or No. 2 seed Villanova in the Elite Eight.
Gonzaga was the NCAA Tournament's overall No. 1 seed and placed in the West Region, meaning UA coach Tommy Lloyd will get to avoid a potential matchup against his former program until the championship game, if both Gonzaga and Arizona make it that far. The winners of the East and West Regions will meet in the national semifinals.
Lloyd spent 22 seasons at Gonzaga, the last 20 as an assistant coach, before taking over the Wildcats last April.
While Gonzaga was named the No. 1 seed in the West Region, Kansas was named No. 1 in the Midwest and Baylor No. 1 in the East.
Arizona is 31-3 and won both the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament titles, beating UCLA 86-76 in the conference tournament championship game on Saturday in Las Vegas.
Bryant crushed Wagner 70-43 to win the Northeast Conference Tournament title while Wright State (21-13) edged Northern Kentucky 72-71 to win the Horizon League Tournament.
Seton Hall finished in fifth place in the Big East with a conference record of 11-8 and lost to UConn on Thursday in the Big East Tournament. TCU tied with Oklahoma State for fifth place in the Big 12 at 8-10 in conference play, then lost to Kansas 75-62 in the Big 12 Tournament.
The Pac-12 put only three teams in the NCAA Tournament field, with UCLA gaining a No. 4 seed in the East while USC was handed a No. 7 seed. The Bruins' loss to Arizona may have dropped it to Portland instead of being able to open in San Diego.
