Arizona and Southern University have agreed to move their Pac-12/SWAC Legacy Series game from Louisiana to McKale Center on Nov. 13, clearing the way for the Wildcats to face Florida Atlantic at Las Vegas just before Christmas.
The Wildcats earlier agreed to face FAU, which reached the Final Four last season, on Dec. 23. But playing the game outside Tucson meant they would fall one game short of the 18 home appearances the school requires for season ticket packages and budget planning.
So Arizona said it approached Southern and the Pac-12 for permission to move its game, ultimately offering the Jaguars a guaranteed payment and the promise of a game at their Baton Rouge, Louisiana, campus in a future season.
While the payment to Southern was not initially disclosed, Arizona typically offers between $80,000 and $95,000 for nonconference opponents to make one-time appearances at McKale Center, and the Wildcats are expected to offer Southern an amount on the high side this season because they did not have to pay them at all last season.
For the Legacy Series, in which Pac-12 and SWAC were paired off to play each other on their respective home courts over the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons, teams were allowed to keep their home gate receipts with no additional payments. But that created some mismatches, with Arizona able to make far more from a home game than Southern, which averaged 4,521 fans in a 7,500-seat arena last season.
It also meant the SWAC teams traveling to Pac-12 sites for the opening round last season had to find a way to pay for the trip. Then-Southern coach Sean Woods told the Star before UA beat Southern 95-78 last season that he needed to schedule additional road games at UNLV and Saint Maryβs.
Woods, who was fired after last season, said having Arizona return the game would be a significant benefit but that βfinancially it doesnβt do anything for us. It actually hurt us a little bit.β
Arizona guard Pelle Larsson sacrifices his nose to stop Southern guard Tyrone Lyons on a fast break last year. UA won 95-78.
For Arizona, the move not only completes its home package but also avoids a potential trap. The Wildcats were initially scheduled to play at Southern on Nov. 12, just two days after they are scheduled to play at Duke.
As it was last season, Pac-12 teams lost all three road games they played at SWAC schools, with Grambling beating Colorado, Texas Southern topping ASU and Prairie View A&M defeating Washington State.
The Wildcats will now play 16 regular-season and two exhibition games at McKale, highlighted by a Dec. 9 matchup with Wisconsin. But most of UAβs top nonconference games will be held at neutral or semi-neutral sites: against Michigan State (Nov. 23) at Thousand Palms, Calif., Purdue (Dec. 16) at Indianapolis (Dec. 16), Alabama (Dec. 20) at Phoenix and FAU at Las Vegas.
Arizona is not scheduled to play in a typical βmulti-team eventβ this season β though the Michigan State game and a home date with Texas-Arlington technically make up an MTE β but the Wildcats are expected to play in the Battle 4 Atlantis next season.
The opponents for UAβs 2023-24 schedule are now finalized, though most tipoff times and television coverage have yet to be announced. Exact dates for Pac-12 games also have yet to be set.
The schedule to date:
Sept. 29: RED BLUE SHOWCASE (scrimmage), 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 20: LEWIS-CLARK STATE COLLEGE (exh.)
Oct. 30: NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS (exh.)
Nov. 6: MORGAN STATE
Nov. 10: at Duke
Nov. 13: SOUTHERN
Nov. 17: BELMONT
Nov. 19: TEXAS-ARLINGTON
Nov. 23: Michigan State, at Thousand Palms, Calif., 2 p.m. (Fox)
Dec. 2: COLGATE
Dec. 9: WISCONSIN
Dec. 16: Purdue, at Indianapolis
Dec. 20: Alabama, at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
Dec. 23: FAU, at Las Vegas
Dec. 27-31: at Stanford/California
Jan 3-7: COLORADO/UTAH
Jan 10-14: at Washington State
Jan. 17-21: UCLA/USC
Jan. 24-28: at Oregon/Oregon State
Jan. 31-Feb 4: CALIFORNIA/STANFORD
Feb. 7-11: at Colorado/Utah
Feb. 14-18: ASU
Feb. 21-25: WASHINGTON/WASHINGTON STATE
Feb. 28-March 3: at ASU & OREGON
March 6-10: at USC/UCLA
March 13-16: Pac-12 Tournament, Las Vegas
*Home games (McKale Center) in bold
McKale Center was built at the University of Arizona in the early 1970s. There have been updates through the years.
