There will be no flying under the radar for Arizona men’s basketball this year.
Arizona is ranked No. 5 in the Associated Press preseason rankings.
Arizona’s preseason ranking is the program’s highest under Tommy Lloyd, topping the 2024-25 season when Wildcats entered the year ranked No. 10. The last time Arizona ranked higher entering the season was 2017-18, when the UA was ranked No. 3.
Florida is the preseason No. 1 team, followed by No. 2 Duke and No. 3 Illinois. No. 4 UConn travels to Tucson for a marquee non-conference matchup on Nov. 18.
Arizona also has non-conference matchups against No. 12 Arkansas (Dec. 19 in Phoenix), No. 13 St. John’s (Dec. 5 in New York City) and No. 22 UCLA (Nov. 2 in Las Vegas).
Five other Big 12 programs are ranked: No. 10 Houston, No. 17 Kansas, No. 18 Iowa State, No. 19 Texas Tech and No. 25 BYU. TCU received 17 votes.
BYU, Houston and Kansas travel to McKale Center at ALKEME Arena during Big 12 play.