Arizona is the Best Team in the Best Conference
Now the 2025-2026 Wildcat Crew is Making Its Case as the Best Ever
The Wildcats are outright Big 12 champions. After a nerve-racking two weeks in which the eight-man rotation dropped to six, Arizona is back to its winning ways just in time for the postseason. With wins over the teams currently ranked #4, 5, 6, and 7 in the AP poll1, it’s time to take a minute to review how incredible the last four months have been.
How Good Are These Cats?
While we all know that the memory of this team will depend greatly on the next month, this season has just been an amazing ride. It is hard to compare era to era in college basketball, as things have changed so much over the last forty years, but I think you could make the argument that this is the best Wildcat regular season ever.2
That doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best team. The fully healthy 2013-2014 Cats were the most recent group with a case for that honor and many of the Lute Olson coached teams included players that would have been long gone to the NBA in today’s day and age.3
This will be Arizona’s eighth time as a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament and the second under Tommy Lloyd (2021-2022). Let’s take a look at those seasons and see how they compare.
1987-1988 Record: 28-2
Wins: #3 Syracuse (Neutral), #3 Iowa (Away), #9 Michigan (N), #9 Duke (Home), #13 Illinois (H)
Losses: New Mexico (A), Stanford (A)
1988-1989 Record: 24-3
Wins: #9 Duke (N), #9 UNLV (H), #12 Stanford (N), #17 Temple (N), #19 Stanford (H)
Losses: #4 UNLV (N), #5 Oklahoma (A), #10 North Carolina (N)
1997-1998 Record: 27-4
Wins: #4 Stanford (A), #8 Kentucky (N), #8 Stanford (H), #9 UCLA (H), #15 New Mexico (H)
Losses: #2 Kansas (N), #3 Duke (N), #17 Florida State (A), USC (A)
1999-2000 Record: 26-6
Wins: #1 Stanford (A), #2 Stanford (H), #4 Michigan State (H), #9 Texas (A), #11 Kentucky (N), #23 Oregon (H), #25 UCLA (A)
Losses: #6 Connecticut (N), New Mexico (H), USC (A), LSU (A), Oregon State (A), Oregon (A)
2002-2003 Record: 25-2
Wins: #6 Kansas (A), #8 Texas (H), #9 Oregon (A), #19 Western Kentucky (H), #19 Stanford (A), #20 Cal (H), #23 Cal (A)
Losses: LSU (A), Stanford (A)
2013-2014 Record: 28-3
Wins: #6 Duke (N)
Losses: Cal (A), ASU (A), Oregon (A)
2021-2022 Record: 25-2
Wins: #3 UCLA (H), #4 Michigan (N), #16 USC (A), #19 USC
Losses: #7 UCLA (A), #19 Tennessee (A), Colorado (A)
2025-2026 Record: 28-2
Wins: #2 Houston (A), #3 Connecticut (A), #3 Florida (N), #6 Iowa State (H), #12 Alabama (N), #13 BYU (A), #14 Kansas (H), #15 UCLA (N), #20 Auburn (H), #23 BYU (H)
Losses: #9 Kansas (A), #16 Texas Tech (H)
Verdict
Coming into the year, I think I would have marked the 1987-1988 and 2002-2003 teams as the two best regular seasons.4 Like this year, those teams had only two losses.5 But those losses came against unranked teams.
When looking over these resumes, it is truly no contest. This year’s team has no unranked losses. They have ten ranked wins, including the second best win of any of these vintages, at #2 Houston.
It has truly been an awesome season and one we will all remember for a long time. Now, please go beat Colorado so I don’t look dumb for writing this.6
Coach and Official Interactions
In the last week or so, I have seen more discourse about the number of games that the best officials are working.
I certainly don’t envy their travel and ideally would prefer that the officials be well rested when they come to work, but the problem is everyone wants the best guys on their games, so they keep getting scheduled.7
Despite what some Wildcat fans might think, Arizona has generally gotten strong crews this season as the Big 12 has prioritized their best games as far as officiating assignments. The national showcase game for both teams and officials right now is Big Monday, and especially the later, Big 12, game.8
For the final Big Monday of the year, Arizona and Iowa State got about as well regarded of a crew as possible, combining for 24 previous Final Four games experience, and ranking 3rd, 4th, and 8th in KenPom’s 2026 ref ratings.9
After voicing some qualms about how the Houston game was called, I thoroughly enjoyed how much contact was let go in the Cyclones/Wildcats matchup.
Obviously, making a high percentage of “correct” calls is the primary focus for evaluation but interactions with coaches and players is also really important. A moment that ESPN caught on the way to commercial break showed Iowa State coach, TJ Otzelberger, voicing his displeasure to official Roger Ayers (click image to watch video).10
I was fortunate enough to be in person for this game and caught a similar interaction on the other end of the floor after a couple of no-calls went against Arizona.
Following the Kharchenkov turnover, official Jeffrey Anderson passed by Coach Lloyd, who let him know he felt there should have been a blocking foul called on the play. The conversation continued all the way to the baseline where Lloyd dropped his grievance just before the following play unfolded, including what sure looked like a double-dribble by Tamin Lipsey.
I have to commend Coach Lloyd, who said his piece, but did a great job to walk away and refrain from harping on it as Anderson passed him again on the way up the floor. Coaches rarely get technical fouls for a single comment. It is when they are unwilling to let a missed call go that even an even-tempered official might feel compelled to hand out a T.
But what I want to point out occurred a little less than a minute later at the media timeout. Anderson, who was positioned on the far baseline following a foul call that triggered the timeout, walked to the other end of the floor and asked Ayers to switch with him.
As Arizona broke the huddle, Anderson made himself available to Lloyd to discuss what had occurred. From where I was sitting, there is no way to tell whether Anderson shared his perspective or just directly said “I think I missed that one.”11 The two gentlemen spent probably 45 seconds talking amicably, and were still going as the ESPN broadcast returned.
Officials aren’t perfect; they are human. But these small things make a big difference in the long run. A pat on the back from Lloyd, a thumbs-up from Anderson, and a couple of high knees on the way back to administer the free throw. Credit to both guys for building that rapport with one another.
Appeal Watch
Arizona lost its first timeout of the year via the challenge/appeal system at Baylor trying to get a flagrant foul call on this blow to the face of Anthony Dell’Orso.
It can be tough to tell what is or isn’t going to rise to the level that justifies a flagrant upgrade and this game had already seen an earlier Jaden Bradley foul meet that criteria.
Coach Lloyd and staff now sit at 5-0 in challenges and 1-1 on appeals on the season, which is still a great tally. Let’s give some credit where it is due; the coach in the second row with the iPad, quickly reviewing each play and passing his assessment to Coach Lloyd: his son, and former Arizona player, Liam Lloyd.
Next Game: at Colorado on Saturday, March 7th, 9:00PM MST.
Three of which came away from home.
Yes, I’m writing this before the Colorado game but I’ve semi-seriously argued the Cats should bench the six guys that have been grinding the last month, let Koa Peat and Dwayne Aristode play 15-20 minutes, and roll with the bench guys the rest of the way.
They will never do it, but all this is to say that I really don’t care about that game as long as everyone walks away uninjured.
Although, that is flipping back a little bit now. Unless they are surefire first-round picks, many players are choosing to stick around college now that they are being paid.
The 1997-1998 team holds some great wins but far too many losses.
Arizona does have five undefeated seasons: the last occurring in 1920-1921.
But even if they don’t, yes, it is still the best regular season in program history.
Bill Self might disagree after Doug Sirmons issued him his second technical Tuesday night in Tempe, leading to his ejection.
As opposed to the early, Duke pummels ACC Team X, game.
Yes, those exist.
This was Ayers’s 101st game of the year.
Good officials will do this sometimes. But you have to know the coach you are speaking to and can’t do it too often.