Arizona basketball agrees to 2-year series with UConn that begins next season

UA announced Monday it would begin a two-year series with UConn that starts in Connecticut on Nov. 19 next season and will continue at McKale Center on Nov. 18, 2026.

The series ensures Arizona of at least four high-caliber games outside the 18-game Big 12 schedule next season — UConn, UCLA, Auburn and Alabama — while the Wildcats work toward replacing a traditional early-season “multi-team event” with more one-off neutral site games.

Connecticut won the 2023 NCAA title and then repeated in 2024 in Glendale. The Huskies went 24-11 in 2024-25 and lost in the NCAA Tournament’s second round, as did UCLA (23-11). Auburn went 32-6 and reached the Final Four while Alabama (28-9) reached the Elite Eight.

UA coach Tommy Lloyd has said the Wildcats’ schedule in 2025-26 might look much like it did in 2023-24, when UA essentially created its own “MTE” by facing Michigan State, Purdue, Alabama and FAU at neutral or semi-neutral sites.

As of now, the Wildcats have two semi-neutral games, being scheduled to face UCLA at Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome on Nov. 14, and Alabama at Birmingham on Dec. 13, while they will play at UConn on Nov. 19 and host Auburn on Dec. 6.

Arizona said it is yet to be determined if next season’s UA-UConn game would be held on the UConn campus in Storrs, Connecticut, or in Hartford, where the teams last faced each other.

The Huskies lead Arizona 5-2 in the all-time series, including a 71-69 win over the eventual NCAA runner-up Wildcats in the 2000-01 season and a 65-63 victory over UA in the 2011 Elite Eight. UA swept the last two games, beating UConn 73-58 at McKale during the 2017-18 season and 76-72 the next season in Hartford.

The rest of Arizona’s 2025-26 nonconference schedule is yet to be determined, but can include up to three other away or neutral games and still meet UA’s school-imposed 18-game home minimum.

Crawford wins G League title

Just before the NBA playoffs began Tuesday with 14 former Wildcat players involved as coaches or players, a former Arizona walk-on coached his team to a G League title.

Quinton Crawford, who spent the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons at Arizona under then-coach Sean Miller, led the Stockton Kings to a 118-110 win over the Osceola Magic on Monday to win the G League title. Stockton, the Sacramento Kings’ affiliate, pulled away from a tie at 95 with just under five minutes left.

“My team’s always been steady all year; we never panic in situations,” Crawford said, according to the Stockton Record. “We have the ability to execute it all, all 15 guys on our roster.”

In his first season as a head coach, Crawford was named the G League’s Coach of the Month in January, when the Kings went 11-3.

In the NBA playoffs, the Wildcats have nine player representatives: T.J. McConnell and Bennedict Mathurin of Indiana, Pelle Larsson and Keshad Johnson of Miami, Zeke Nnaji and Aaron Gordon of Denver, along with Dalen Terry (Chicago), Christian Koloko (Lakers) and Brandon Williams (Dallas).

Former UA players coaching in the playoffs this year include: Steve Kerr and Bruce Fraser of Golden State, Jesse Mermuys and Bret Brielmaier of Orlando, and Luke Walton of Detroit.

UA rated sixth-most valuable

Arizona ranks in the “Elite Eight” of most valuable college basketball programs, according to a study cited earlier this month in the Wall Street Journal.

Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University Columbus, ranked Arizona as the sixth-most valuable team in men’s college basketball with an overall “enterprise value” of $257 million. Brewer’s calculation involves analyzing cash flows and revenue streams to value teams as if they could be bought or sold as a pro team.

North Carolina ranked No. 1 with an enterprise value of $378 million, with Duke second at $370 million and Indiana third at $279 million. Ohio State ($262 million) and Louisville ($260 million) also rated higher than UA, which ranked first in the Big 12 and five spots overall ahead of No. 11 Kansas ($191 million).