No. 1 Arizona will take on No. 16 LIU in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in San Diego.
The Wildcats (32-2, 16-2) are a No. 1 seed for the eighth time in school history and the second time under Tommy Lloyd (2022). They were placed in the West Region after the selection committee’s unveiling of the bracket on Sunday.
The Round of 32 matchup would see Arizona play the winner of No. 8 Villanova and No. 9 Utah State on Sunday, if it advances.
Should Arizona move on to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8, it will play its games in San Jose. The Final Four is in Indianapolis.
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Purdue took the No. 2 seed in the West Region, Gonzaga got the No. 3 seed, while Arkansas sits at No. 4 in the West. Duke is the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament.
Arizona won the Big 12 Tournament on Saturday, dethroning Houston 79-74 in a rematch of last year’s conference title game.
Arizona has not advanced beyond the Sweet 16 since its 2015 Elite Eight run. The Wildcats are looking to advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2001 and have lost in the Sweet 16 in three of Lloyd’s previous four seasons.
Arizona is led by senior guard Jaden Bradley, the 2025-26 Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. Bradley is averaging 13.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.6 rebounds over 34 games this season.
The Wildcats have five players averaging double figures and seven players who average at least nine points per game. Lloyd was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year on Monday.
“Well, you know, it gives us a good margin for error, where we have so many guys we can count on,” Lloyd told reporters after Saturday’s win.
How did Arizona get here?
The Wildcats opened the regular season with a 93-87 win over then-No. 3 Florida on a neutral site.
That was the start of a historic 23-0 start to the season.
Arizona earned wins over Florida, No. 15 UCLA, No. 3 UConn, No. 20 Auburn and No. 12 Alabama to start the year 13-0 in non-conference play before Big 12 play began.
The Wildcats continued their success with 10 straight wins to open conference play, until they suffered their first loss at No. 9 Kansas.
Arizona lost consecutive games before finishing the season on a nine-game win streak, including the Big 12 tournament.
The Wildcats’ two losses came when they were outscored at the free throw line by 13 points (at Kansas) and when they were outscored by 21 points from 3-point range (vs. Texas Tech).
Size and paint presence were key reasons why Arizona won a program-record 29 times in the regular season and continued that success in the Big 12 Tournament.
The Wildcats have made 61 more free throws this season than their opponents have attempted. However, their dominance in the paint has left 3-point shooting as a weakness.
That’s what Texas Tech exploited in Arizona’s second loss of the year. The Wildcats have made 10 or more 3s in just four games this season.
Arizona Sports’ Douglas Santo contributed to this story.
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