The Arizona Wildcats were ranked No. 13 in the Associated Press preseason poll released Monday, but they’ll have plenty of chances to prove worthy of a higher spot.
The Wildcats will open the regular season in Las Vegas on Nov. 3 against defending national champion Florida, which was picked No. 3 in the AP poll, while Big 12 defending champion Houston was picked second behind No. 1 Purdue.
In all, Arizona is scheduled to face nine ranked teams and six teams ranked above it in the AP’s preseason Top 25 poll: Houston (2), Florida (3), UConn (4), BYU (8), Texas Tech (10) and UCLA (12).
The Wildcats will also face Iowa State (16), Kansas (19) and Auburn (20) plus San Diego State, which picked up the 27th most points in the preseason poll.
Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson points during the first half against Florida in the national championship at the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament, April 7, in San Antonio.
The Wildcats’ ambitious nonconference games will help them offset not playing in a major multi-team event and playing two fewer Big 12 games this season, since the conference has dropped from playing 20 to just 18 games. Of the ranked Big 12 teams, they will only have to face BYU and Kansas twice.
People are also reading…
UA coach Tommy Lloyd has expressed both caution and confidence about the Wildcats’ grind ahead. Arizona returns three starters plus previously injured center Motiejus Krivas but will have to rely heavily on at least three or four freshmen, most likely including guard Brayden Burries and forward Koa Peat.
“I don’t want to come out and say a bunch of superlatives and all these amazing things, because we know how hard it’s going to be,” Lloyd said. “But I feel like we’ve got a lot of great pieces and the initial parts of our culture build have been positive. I feel like this is a team that’s going to be built for all the challenges that are in front of it.”
Arizona’s No. 13 ranking was largely consistent with how the major national computer rankings are listing the Wildcats. KenPom.com put Arizona at No. 15 in its rankings released over the weekend, while EvanMiya.com has the Wildcats at No. 7 and BartTorvik.com has UA at No. 12.
In KenPom’s rankings, Arizona was the fourth-highest ranked Big 12 team, followed by Houston (1), Texas Tech (12), Iowa State (13). Baylor was two spots behind the Wildcats at No. 17, while BYU (18) and Kansas (25) also made its top 25.
Other Big 12 teams in KenPom rankings included: Cincinnati (36), Kansas State (61), UCF (64), TCU (66), West Virginia (67), Oklahoma State (69), Utah (74), ASU (75), Colorado (83).
EvanMiya.com listed the Wildcats second of all Big 12 teams at No. 7, trailing only top-ranked Houston, while it also had BYU (9), Iowa State (13), Kansas (18) and Texas Tech (21) in its Top 25.
Although coaches sometimes downplay the significance of AP preseason rankings, KenPom’s Ken Pomeroy has written that he’s a “big fan of the AP preseason poll” because it can be a more accurate view of teams’ strengths. Weekly AP Top 25 polls fluctuate to reflect teams’ performance to date.
“With the voters having to use their hoops expertise as opposed to adhering to certain conventions (during the season), you end up with an accurate picture of which teams are truly the best” in the preseason AP poll, Pomeroy wrote.
In the Wildcats’ case, the preseason AP poll has provided an especially prediction over the past two seasons.
Last season, Arizona was ranked 10th in the AP preseason poll and wound up 15th in the postseason poll after finishing in a third-place tie in the Big 12, going 24-13 overall and reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
In 2023-24, the Wildcats were picked No. 12 in the AP preseason poll, rose to No. 1 in December 2023, then entered the NCAA Tournament at No. 9 after winning the Pac-12 regular-season title. Then they finished at exactly No. 12 in the AP postseason poll after losing to Clemson in the Sweet 16.
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at [email protected].
On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
Arizona’s 2025-26 men’s basketball
Most times and TV TBA
(Games at McKale Center unless noted)
Nonconference games
Oct. 3: Red-Blue Showcase (intrasquad scrimmage), 5:45 p.m.
Oct. 18: Saint Mary’s (exhibition)
Oct. 27: Embry-Riddle (exhibition)
Nov. 3: Florida (at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas), 5 p.m., TNT
Nov. 7: Utah Tech
Nov. 11: NAU
Nov. 14: UCLA (at Intuit Dome, Los Angeles)
Nov. 19: at UConn, 5 p.m.. FS1
Nov. 24: Denver (Wildcat Classic MTE)
Nov. 29: Norfolk State (Wildcat Classic MTE)
Dec. 6: Auburn
Dec. 13: Alabama (at Legacy Arena, Birmingham, Ala.)
Dec. 16: Abilene Christian
Dec. 20: San Diego State (at PHX Arena, Phoenix)
Dec. 22: Bethune-Cookman
Dec. 29: South Dakota State
Big 12 Conference games
Jan. 3: at Utah
Jan. 7: Kansas State
Jan. 10: at TCU
Jan. 14: ASU
Jan. 17: at UCF
Jan. 21: Cincinnati
Jan. 24: West Virginia
Jan. 26: at BYU, 7 p.m., ESPN
Jan. 31: at ASU
Feb. 7: Oklahoma State
Feb. 9: at Kansas, 7 p.m. ESPN
Feb. 14: Texas Tech
Feb. 18: BYU
Feb. 21: at Houston
Feb. 24: at Baylor
Feb. 28: Kansas
March 2: Iowa State, 7 p.m., ESPN
March 7: at Colorado
Postseason:
March 10-14: Big 12 Tournament, at Kansas City
March 19-22: NCAA Tournament, first and second rounds, TBD
March 26-29: NCAA Tournament, Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, TBD
April 4-6: Final Four, Indianapolis
Be the first to know
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
