The Arizona Wildcats came into the 2024-25 men’s college basketball season regarded as one of the best teams in the nation.
They received the No. 10 ranking in the preseason polls and reached as high as No. 9 in the early going. But, they quickly dropped out of the top 25 as they have found no consistency on the hardwood to this point.
The Wildcats went 6-5 out of conference, destroying all the non-Quad 1 teams they faced off against. Arizona was 6-0 with an average margin of victory of 40.2 points, just running lower-echelon teams off the court.
However, when they stepped up in competition, they struggled to find a rhythm on either end of the court.
In one game their offense would light up the scoreboard but they couldn’t buy a stop. On another, their offense would sputter when the defense was locked in.
It resulted in an 0-5 record against Quad 1 teams, with losses to the Wisconsin Badgers, Duke Blue Devils, Oklahoma Sooners, West Virginia Mountaineers and UCLA Bruins.
Because of that slow start against major conference teams, the Wildcats currently aren’t projected to be in the NCAA Tournament field shared by Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report.
That is certainly a shocking turn of events given where they began the season ranked. However, there will be ample opportunities for the team to climb their way back into the mix for an at-large bid with so many highly ranked opponents in the Big 12.
On Monday night, Arizona looked to start turning the corner with a 90-81 victory at the McKale Center over the TCU Horned Frogs. It was their inaugural Big 12 game and the first win this season to come against a team ranked inside the top 100 on KenPom or the NET Ranking.
It is going to take more than that to get the team truly back on track, but it was a nice step in the right direction. They are now riding a season-high three-game winning streak heading into a big road game against the No. 16 ranked Cincinnati Bearcats.
While things haven’t gone according to plan just yet, their outlook is still strong based on where they stand with some of the predictive rankings.
KenPom still has them ranked No. 22, which hints that they will be comfortably in the NCAA Tournament field once Selection Sunday rolls around in three months.
The necessary talent to go on an extended run is in place, as the Wildcats have one of the best rosters in college basketball.
It will be up to Tommy Lloyd and his staff to get the most out of the players and find the right combination to help them succeed.