Arizona Wildcats won't host Kansas at McKale Center during first Big 12 go-round in 2024-25

Arizona won’t get a chance to play Kansas at McKale Center in their first Big 12 schedule next season but the Wildcats will host seven conference teams that made the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

The Big 12 on Thursday announced home and away matchups for the conference’s 20-game schedule, assigning each of its 16 teams five opponents to play twice and 10 to play just once. Dates were not announced.

Arizona will play two games each – one at McKale Center and the other away – against ASU, BYU, Iowa State, Texas Tech and Baylor.

The Wildcats will play Utah, Colorado, TCU, UCF and Houston only at McKale Center while they will play only road games against Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Cincinnati and West Virginia.

The Big 12 is moving from 18 to 20 games next season while its membership jumps from 14 to 16 teams. Arizona, ASU, Utah and Colorado are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12 effective next week, while Texas and Oklahoma are leaving the Big 12 for the SEC.

The Big 12 said 2024-25 opponents were picked "based on a combination of geography, historical results and a poll of the coaches to best balance the schedule in terms of travel and competitiveness."

Though he won’t have to face Arizona at McKale in 2024-25, Kansas coach Bill Self had been an outspoken opponent of playing 20 conference games.

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“We don’t want that,” Self said in April. “One of our problems this year with our young kids was we didn’t play a schedule that allowed those guys to play through mistakes. Going to 20 league games, it would be that on steroids.”

The Big 12 did not say when any of the 2024-25 conference games might be played nor whether they would assign the Wildcats any multiple-game road trips. Unlike the Pac-12’s standard two-game road trip formula, the Big 12 typically assigns most of its away games as single-play trips.

Of UA’s home conference opponents next season, BYU, Iowa State, Texas Tech, Baylor, Colorado, TCU and Houston all made the NCAA Tournament, though only Iowa State and Houston made it past the first weekend.

In the early Top 25 picks for 2024-25 from ESPN, NCAA.com and CBS, Kansas, Houston, Iowa State and Baylor are all consensus top four picks, indicating the Wildcats may be picked to finish fifth or lower in the Big 12.

Arizona has not faced many current Big 12 teams for a decade or more, while it has never played UCF, which joined the Big 12 last season. Arizona is 80-81 all time against current Big 12 teams other than the three that are coming over with it from the Pac-12: ASU (161-86), Colorado (26-16) and Utah (40-32).

Arizona last played several Big 12 teams in the Maui Invitational or NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats beat TCU in the second round of the 2022 Tournament but lost to Houston in an ensuing Sweet 16 game, while earlier having beaten Oklahoma State in the 2005 Sweet 16 but losing to West Virginia in the 2008 first round.

Arizona hasn't played Kansas since 2010-11 despite developing a fierce rivalry in earlier decades, beating the then top-ranked Jayhawks in the 1997 Sweet 16 en route to the NCAA title but losing 78-73 to Kansas in the 2003 Elite Eight despite being ranked No. 1 for most of the 2002-03 season.

In addition to playing 10 Big 12 games at McKale Center next season, Arizona is scheduled to host Duke and five mid- or low-major teams to be announced, in order to meet the school's self-imposed 16-game home schedule minimum. The Wildcats are scheduled to play 15 times away from McKale, including games at Wisconsin, against UCLA in Phoenix and in the three-game Battle 4 Atlantis event in the Bahamas.