One thing about UA coach Tommy Lloyd: He doesn't scare easily.
He willingly scheduled a pre-conference list of Big Boy opponents that includes No. 3 Florida, No. 4 UConn, No. 12 UCLA, No. 15 Alabama and No. 20 Auburn. Only Auburn is in the safety of McKale Center.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd watches the Wildcats run through a loose series of drills, getting ready to face Akron in the round of 64 of the men’s NCAA Tournament in Seattle on March 20, 2025.
"I think that's how Arizona should schedule," said Lloyd. "We view ourselves as one of the premier programs in the country. I think it's great when programs of our caliber are matching up with other programs maybe a little bit higher than us. Why would we ever be scared of failure?"
Tucsonans have been through this before.
In the 1987-88 season, No. 19 Arizona scheduled No. 1 Syracuse, No. 3 Iowa, No. 9 Michigan and No. 7 Duke. Only the Duke game would be played in Tucson. How'd it go? Arizona won 'em all and was No. 1 in the nation before Christmas. Lloyd is following Lute Olson’s scheduling legacy.
"You're going to win some and you're going to lose some," said Lloyd. "It's part of the process. That's what makes college basketball so great. At Arizona we're not protecting anything. We're trying to go out and get what we can."
The kicker is that Arizona's Big 12 schedule includes two games with No. 8 BYU, another at No. 2 Houston, two with No. 19 Kansas and solo games with No. 10 Texas Tech and No. 16 Iowa State.
Arizona forward Tobe Awaka (30) rips the ball out of the reach of BYU guard Trey Stewart (1) in the fight for possession in the lane during the second half of their Big 12 game, in Tucson, Feb. 22, 2025.
The only schedule in UA history to compare was 2001-02, when the Wildcats beat No. 2 Maryland, No. 6 Florida, No. 5 Illinois and No. 23 Texas. That came amid losses to No. 8 Kansas, and No. 22 Michigan State. The Wildcats also played eight Pac-10 games against teams in the Top 25. The ’01-02 Wildcats reached the Sweet 16.
