Two years after clinging humbly to the Big 12’s life raft as refugees of the imploding Pac-12, the Arizona Wildcats head into their new league’s showcase center of Kansas City as defending conference champions.
They aren’t expected to take the crown off this season, either.
Leading up to the conference’s preseason hypefest at the T-Mobile Center this week, the Big 12 said 12 of its 16 head coaches voted the Wildcats to defend their conference championship in its official preseason poll, and will put them on stage Wednesday in the second day of the two-day event.
From left to right: Arizona's Anthony Dell'Orso, Koa Peat, Brayden Burries and Jackson Cook celebrate winning the Big-12 title at McKale Center on March 2, after beating Iowa State.
But chances are when he gets there, UA coach Tommy Lloyd will still approach it with humility. Especially after two somewhat uneven home-court exhibition wins over San Francisco and San Diego State.
“We’re a program that’s way more based on the substance of what you do over the course of the season,” Lloyd said on Friday after the Wildcats beat SDSU 82-67. “Postseason awards — those are the meaningful ones. We haven't even talked about it as a team.
People are also reading…
Arizona guard Caleb Holt celebrates draining a 3 in the early going against San Francisco in their exhibition game on Oct. 13.
“We're on our own journey right now, and we're not defending anything. I mean, no one can take away from us what we did last year, and the only way you can go do something this year, is you’ve got to go do it. …by no means do we think we're a step ahead of anybody.”
Lloyd will get a chance to expound on all that Wednesday, when both the UA men’s and women’s teams will be among eight schools taking turns on the main stage, and also for media partner promos and in outside media interviews.
The Big 12 is combining the men’s and women’s programs during media days this season, instead of holding all women’s teams on Tuesday and all the men’s teams on Wednesday, as it did over the previous two seasons. It said the format would create “a unified platform to highlight the depth and strength of the league.”
Becky Burke, head coach, speaks to reporters after a women’s basketball practice at McKale Center on Sept. 30.
UA women's basketball coach Becky Burke and three of her players are scheduled to be on stage at 7 a.m. Wednesday, while Lloyd and his three players will be on at 8:20 a.m.
The Arizona men chose center Motiejus Krivas, forward Ivan Kharchenkov and guard Caleb Holt as representatives, while the women’s team is scheduled to bring Sumayah Sugapong, Aliyahna “Puff” Morris and Gerda Rauluaityte.
On Wednesday, the UA teams will be joined by those from BYU, UCF, Houston, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, TCU and West Virginia. On Tuesday, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark will speak, along with teams from Arizona State, Baylor, Cincinnati, Colorado, Iowa State, Kansas, Texas Tech and Utah
The main stage press conferences will be streamed on ESPN Plus, while ESPNU will provide overall media day coverage from 9 a.m. to noon on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Other Big 12 media partners — FOX, CBS, TNT and NBC — are also expected to be on site along with TuneIn Radio.
During the media days, the Big 12 said it would also launch behind-the-scenes coverage via a show called “The Rotation” on the Big 12’s YouTube channel. The league said the show would be a “personality-driven original content series featuring authentic interviews with student-athletes, coaches and influential voices at the intersection of sports, culture and lifestyle.”
Meanwhile, Big 12 players and coaches will be able to hang out in the "Monster Energy Lounge," named for the company that agreed to a $20 million sponsorship of the league.
Contact sports reporter Bruce Pascoe at bpascoe@tucson.com. On X(Twitter): @brucepascoe
Bruce Pascoe
Reporter
