Pac to the future: Arizona, UCLA extend men’s basketball rivalry via multigame series

The Arizona-UCLA men’s basketball series — the best rivalry on the West Coast — will continue in the post-Pac-12 era.

In addition to the Wildcats and Bruins playing each other in a previously announced matchup in Phoenix on Dec. 14, they will also square off in 2025 and 2027.

The two schools — who combined for 43 regular-season and Pac-10/12 tournament championships in their 45 years as conference cohabitants — announced the multiyear series Tuesday.

They will meet in a familiar locale — Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, longtime site of the Pac-12 Tournament — as part of the Hall of Fame Series in 2025. They’ll square off again at a neutral site in Los Angeles in ’27.

“We are happy to work alongside UCLA to keep this series on the schedule moving forward,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said in a news release. “For decades, Arizona-UCLA games have meant so much to our players, coaches and fans across the country. Icons in the game of basketball have made this rivalry into one of the best in college basketball, and we look forward to adding the next chapters in the years to come.”

UCLA established itself as the dominant force in college basketball in the 1960s and ’70s under John Wooden. Arizona emerged as a power in the mid-1980s under Lute Olson. Since then, they’ve traded blows, including three head-to-head matchups in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game (2014, 2022, 2023).

With the Pac-12 breaking up and the Bruins and Wildcats headed elsewhere — UCLA to the Big Ten, Arizona to the Big 12 — the rivalry appeared to be in jeopardy. But the schools agreed to play each other later this year as part of the Hall of Fame series at Footprint Center before adding two more neutral-site matchups.

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“We look forward to facing Arizona next season in Phoenix,” UCLA coach Mick Cronin said in a news release. “It’s a win-win situation for both UCLA and Arizona, as we want to preserve what has turned into a fantastic basketball rivalry out west. These are two schools with strong basketball traditions and passionate fan bases, and it’s important for us to find ways to continue playing each other.

“I have a lot of respect for Tommy Lloyd and the job that he has done the past three seasons at Arizona. His teams are talented and well-coached. Adding Arizona to our schedule next season will help our team as we move into Big Ten Conference play.”

The Wildcats have a 6-2 record against the Bruins under Lloyd, including wins in the 2022 and ’23 Pac-12 Tournament title games.

Tickets for the Dec. 14 game in Phoenix will go on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday at footprintcenter.com.