Arizona has struggled in the NCAA Tournament. Can it shake it off with trip to Final Four?
For a conference that calls itself the "Conference of Champions," the Pac-12 has been deprived of titles in men’s college basketball recently.
After Arizona's win in the 1997 Final Four, every conference was playing catchup to the Pac-12’s 16 national championships in the NCAA men's tournament, which began with Oregon winning the one in 1939 and was led by UCLA’s Division I-leading 11 national championships. But since Arizona won 27 years ago, no Pac-12 team has been able to cut the nets at the Final Four, even with six teams appearing on the final weekend falling just short of a national title.
Now in its final year before 10 members leave the league and change the way the college sports world knows it, can the Pac-12 go out on top and break its longest national championship spell in its storied history?
The league doesn’t have many options this season with just four teams in the field. However, it does boast a major contender − the one that won its last national title: Arizona.
A No. 2 seed, the Wildcats have been here before since Tommy Lloyd arrived in Tucson in 2021. But following a fantastic regular season, the team has struggled in March. And with another high seed in this year’s tournament, Arizona will have pressure to change its narrative and send the Pac-12 out on top.
"Our guys are built for it," head coach Tommy Lloyd told USA TODAY Sports.
Arizona's NCAA Tournament struggles
Whether at the raucous McKale Center or on the road, Arizona has been tough to beat in the regular season. Since Lloyd has taken over, the Wildcats are 86-19 in the past three seasons, third-most wins in Division I in that timespan behind Purdue and Houston. In that same time period, Arizona has also won two Pac-12 regular season titles and two Pac-12 conference tournament titles.
While the wins are nice, they haven’t translated into tournament success. In two appearances, where the Wildcats were a No. 1 seed in 2022 and a No. 2 seed in 2023, Arizona is 2-2. Last season ended with a first-round loss to No. 15 seed Princeton, the 11th time in tournament history a No. 2 seed was bounced in the first round.
The Wildcats are again a No. 2 seed in this year's field and face Long Beach State in the first round of the West Region on Thursday.
Last year's loss that still stings for the Wildcats. It's something even players that weren’t on the team last season think about, like Alabama transfer Jaden Bradley.
"Everybody knows what happened last year. That's always on our minds, but we got to have that next set mentality," Bradley said after Arizona defeated Southern California in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals.
The tournament issues aren’t just something that’s happened under Lloyd, but has been a bug on the back of Arizona since it last went to the Final Four in 2001, when it lost the national championship game to Duke. Despite having outstanding teams, the Wildcats have fallen short of the Final Four in the past two decades plus. Arizona has been at least a top six seed in its past nine March Madness appearances since 2011, and it’s been to the Elite Eight as many times as its been eliminated in the first round (three each).
The power of Love
Bradley is just one of the few college basketball stars that transferred to Tucson for this season in what could be viewed as an "all-in" squad. Joining Bradley in Arizona is former San Diego State forward Keshad Johnson, who started every game for the Aztecs, who made it to last season’s national title game.
But no newcomer has been as impactful as Caleb Love. The former North Carolina guard was a star for the Tar Heels that helped spark their Final Four run in 2022. But after a dismal last season in Chapel Hill, Love opted to move to Arizona.
"I wanted to come here and be a winner," Love said.
He has done just that while having one of his best seasons yet. He’s put nearly career-highs in every statistical category, a worthy mention for someone that was a critical part of North Carolina for three seasons. This season, Love has averaged 18.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 42.1% from the field and 34.7% from 3-point land. That’s why he was the obvious choice for the Pac-12 player of the year and is in the running for several national player of the year awards.
And to the team, it’s obvious who is the top guy.
"Caleb is our best player," said senior center Oumar Ballo. "He got us here."
Love has been a catalyst all season, but Lloyd said what he’s been through – a Final Four one season with North Carolina and missing the tournament the next year – will be a difference maker when it comes to the postseason.
"This is a guy who’s had the highest of highs in college basketball and the lowest of the lows. His experience is invaluable to us," Lloyd said. "I love him, and I'm lucky to have him.
"I’m never concerned about Caleb. Ever."
'We want to be one of those teams'
Love’s presence has propelled what was a great offense into an even more dangerous offense capable of turning games into blowouts or making surging comebacks. Last season, the Wildcats were sixth in Division I averaging 81.9 points per game, but this season the team is averaging 87.9 points per game, third in the country. The Wildcats are also one of the better 3-point shooting teams in Division I.
But even with a high-powered offense, Arizona has still shown it is vulnerable. After it routed UCLA in Pauley Pavilion for the Pac-12 regular season title, the Wildcats gave a poor performance against lowly Southern California to end the regular season.
After the loss to the Trojans, Lloyd suggested it may have been a gift for his team to get a reality check just before tournament play. Ballo called it a “wake up call” that was “a step back for us for a greater comeback.”
Arizona responded emphatically by crushing USC by 21 points in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 tournament. But the wake up call turned into a nightmare in the semifinals against Oregon; the Arizona had no answer for the Ducks in the second half to end the chances for the Pac-12 tournament title three-peat.
"We got to keep our head high and go back and understand that the greatest challenges lie ahead," Lloyd said after the Oregon loss. "I love this group of guys. We've had an amazing journey together and I'm expecting the best times are ahead."
Luckily for Arizona, history suggests the Wildcats won’t be stunned in the first round again; the Wildcats have never lost back-to-back games under Lloyd. But still, there’s a lot of March sadness Arizona is trying to get over this season. The chances for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament went out the window with the loss to Oregon and the Wildcats were slotted as No. 2 seed, but still get to be in the West region with a chance to have a home crowd in Los Angeles if it makes it to the Sweet 16.
Love's play will also be an indicator of how far this team goes. In the last two losses, the guard had only eight points combined on 3-for-21 shooting. Lloyd said the final weeks of the regular season are crucial to getting ready for the tournament, especially for the players that will be attempting to go for their first deep tournament run.
"Teams that play well deep into the season, and into the postseason, get better week by week," Lloyd said. "We want to be one of those teams."
It wasn’t the ideal end to the regular season, and there aren’t any chances left for mistakes, but the Wildcats remain one of the favorites to win a national title, and leave the Pac-12 on top of the college basketball world.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Can Arizona shake off NCAA Tournament struggles and make Final Four?
