Arizona will open the fourth season under Tommy Lloyd as the preseason No. 10 team in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. The preseason rankings were released Monday, and the Wildcats are one of five teams from the Big 12 to begin the season in the top 10. Kansas earned 30 first-place votes and will open the season at No. 1 with Houston (No. 4), Iowa State (No. 5) and Baylor (No. 8) rounding out the group along with UA.
The Wildcats' first game against a preseason top-25 team will be Nov. 22 when No. 7 Duke makes the trip to McKale Center. Wisconsin, Arizona's Nov. 15 opponent, received votes in the preseason poll.
No. 6 Gonzaga and No. 17 Indiana are two potential opponents in the Paradise Jam event in late November.
No. 22 UCLA will travel to Phoenix to play the Wildcats in a neutral court game at Footprint Center on Dec. 14 marking the last nonconference game against a preseason top-25 team for UA.
In all, the Big 12 has six teams ranked inside the AP Top 25 to begin the season with No. 20 Cincinnati rounding out the group. The Wildcats will play the Bearcats in the first full week of conference play as the two teams will meet up in. Cincinnati on Jan. 4 as part of Arizona's first road trip in its new conference.
Lloyd and the Wildcats return a ton of experience to this year's roster following a trip to the Sweet 16 in Year 3. The UA head coach enters the season 88-20 record while leading the Wildcats, but the team now steps into arguably the best conference in basketball following realignment. Only the SEC has more teams (9) in the preseason poll but only No. 2 Alabama sits inside the top 10.
The Wildcats were recently picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 preseason poll by the coaches in the conference. UA received one first-place vote and finished just six points behind Baylor for the fourth spot. 2023-24 Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love was selected as a preseason All-Big 12 First Team member.
