Even though early spring college basketball rosters are more uncertain than ever in the transfer portal era, that hasn’t stopped the wave of “early Top 25” rankings that gush out after every national championship game.
Arizona isn’t making the national predictions any easier. Still with major uncertainty in the future of standout forward Azuolas Tubelis, as well as who coach Tommy Lloyd might pick up in the transfer portal or international talent pool this spring, the Wildcats generated picks between No. 7 and No. 18 in the early Top 25 posts.
Sports Illustrated had UA the highest at No. 7, noting that Tubelis “profiles as a potential National Player of the Year candidate,” while Fox Sports had the Wildcats at 18th and expected that Lloyd would “acquire guard play in the portal.”
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Of the others in between, the Wildcats were No. 8 on the Athletic and ESPN, No. 12 at USA Today, No. 14 on CBS and No. 16 on 247Sports.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello noted that his ranking assumed Tubelis would be back, as most picks generally leaned toward. (The Athletic’s Seth Davis posted that anyone projected as a top 40 NBA draft pick was considered a departure, while Borzello had a top-60 cutoff; Tubelis is No. 75 in ESPN’s latest “best available” NBA draft rankings).
“If he’s back in the fold, Tommy Lloyd will once again have arguably the best frontcourt duo in the country in Tubelis and Oumar Ballo,” Borzello wrote. “Besides Tubelis’ status, we’ll be closely watching whether the Wildcats can land enough perimeter pop. Kylan Boswell should be fine as Kerr Kriisa’s replacement, while Pelle Larsson is also back. But expect more weapons.”
The rankings also suggest the Wildcats could have top-10 non-conference matchups against Duke, which is rated as high as No. 1, and Alabama, which is ranked as high as No. 6.
Among Pac-12 teams, UCLA is ranked as high as No. 7 (Athletic), while Colorado appeared at No. 13 in ESPN’s projection and USC was as high as No. 16 (Fox Sports).
Arizona is scheduled to play at Duke on Nov. 10 in its second game of the season and will face Alabama in Phoenix on Dec. 20. The Pac-12 schedule has not been announced, though it is possible the league will arrange for UA to host UCLA for a final time in conference play even though the McKale game is scheduled to be skipped as of now.
The NCAA tournament National Championship featured another dominant win from the UConn Huskies for the program's 5th title since 1999. Check out the best moments of the March Madness Mania here.
