Arizona could face tough draw in Big 12 basketball tournament
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The Arizona Wildcats have a lot to play for on Saturday.
A win at Kansas in their regular season finale would not only significantly boost their NCAA Tournament resume, but it would also potentially help them avoid a brutal quarterfinals matchup in the Big 12 Tournament.
Arizona (20-10, 14-5) is currently tied for second place in the Big 12 and has already clinched a top-four seed in the tournament along with Houston (26-4, 18-1), Texas Tech (23-7, 14-5) and BYU (22-8, 13-6). A top-four seed comes with a double bye into the tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.
How high can Arizona finish?
The Wildcats can still finish in second place, but they would need the Red Raiders to lose to Arizona State (13-17, 4-15) on Saturday. Assuming Texas Tech wins that game, the highest Arizona can finish is third. The Red Raiders hold the tiebreaker advantage based on their win over Houston.
If the Wildcats beat Kansas (19-11, 10-9) they will knock the Jayhawks into a potential four or five-way tie for sixth place. Kansas could end up with a No. 7 or 8 seed in the tournament. This is significant, because if Kansas beats Arizona they will likely lock up the No. 6 seed — and will be favored to play Arizona again in the quarterfinals.
If Arizona beats Kansas on Saturday, they will likely avoid having to play them again just a few days later. Assuming the Wildcats win, here are the projected Big 12 Tournament matchups for the second-round and quarterfinal games:
Second round - Wednesday, March 12
- Game 5 – No. 5 seed Iowa State vs. Winner of Game 1 - 11:30 a.m. CT
- Game 6 – No. 8 seed TCU vs. Winner of Game 2 - 2 p.m. CT
- Game 7 – No. 7 seed Kansas vs. Winner of Game 3 - 6 p.m. CT
- Game 8 – No. 6 seed Baylor vs. Winner of Game 4 - 8:30 p.m. CT
Quarterfinals - Thursday, March 13
- Game 9 – No. 4 seed BYU vs. Winner of Game 5 - 11:30 a.m. CT
- Game 10 – No. 1 seed Houston vs. Winner of Game 6 - 2 p.m. CT
- Game 11 – No. 2 seed Texas Tech vs. Winner of Game 7 - 6 p.m. CT
- Game 12 – No. 3 seed Arizona vs. Winner of Game 8 - 8:30 p.m. CT
The Big 12 is as deep as ever and Arizona will have to play a tough team in the quarterfinals no matter what. But facing a preseason national championship favorite who is desperate for a win — and playing in front of thousands of KU fans in Kansas City — would be a brutal introduction to the Big 12 Tournament.
We'll see how it all shakes out on Saturday.
More Arizona & Big 12 Analysis
-029877d49238355bd3388a94f90e3c72.jpg "Ben Sherman")
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his 27-year journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. A basketball junkie, March Madness is his favorite time of the year.