Arizona gets brutal seed in updated NCAA Tournament projections
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With three games to play, the Arizona Wildcats (19-9, 13-4) are clinging to second place in the Big 12.
Arizona enters Saturday's enormous road game at Iowa State one game ahead of Texas Tech and two games ahead of BYU and the Cyclones. The top four teams in the conference receive byes into the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals, which makes this a critical finishing stretch for Tommy Lloyd's team.
It's also important from an NCAA Tournament seeding standpoint. Two of Arizona's final three games are Quad 1 opportunities, which would boost its tournament resume.
ESPN's latest NCAA Tournament predictions
The Wildcats are currently ranked No. 9 in the NCAA NET Rankings and are 7-8 in Quad 1 games, which are defined as home games against teams in the top 30 of the NET, and road games against teams in the top 75 of the NET.
If the Wildcats beat Iowa State and Kansas they will finish the regular season with 9 Quad 1 wins — one of the best marks in the country. And that doesn't include the Big 12 Tournament, which will come with more Quad 1 opportunities,
In ESPN's latest NCAA Tournament Bracketology predictions, released Friday, Arizona is slotted as a No. 4 seed in the Midwest. The Wildcats are projected to play No. 13 Akron in the first round in Seattle, with the winner likely facing No. 5 Maryland in the second round.
ESPN has Alabama slotted as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest — and the Crimson Tide are arguably the weakest of the top seeds. Avoiding a potential Sweet 16 matchup with Auburn, Duke or Houston is significant.
Updated CBS Sports projections
The latest NCAA Tournament predictions from CBS Sports are not as kind to Arizona. Jerry Palm has the Wildcats slotted for the dreaded No. 5 vs. No. 12 matchup vs. Drake in the first round in Denver. Nobody wants to play Drake, much less in a 5-12 matchup.
Drake is 26-3, ranked No. 59 in the NET and is led by the most successful NCAA men's college basketball coach of the past 15 years — Ben McCollum. At Division II Northwest Missouri State, McCollum went 394-91 and won four D-II national championships. If not for the COVID-19 pandemic, he probably would have won five titles.
Drake hired McCollum last April and he brought his best players with him, including junior guard Bennett Stirtz who is averaging 18.8 points and 6.0 assists. Drake beat Miami, Vanderbilt and Kansas State in nonconference play, and has won 14 of its last 15 games.
If Arizona survives the Drake matchup, the Wildcats are projected to play the winner of No. 4 Missouri vs. No. 13 Yale in the second round. And waiting in the Sweet 16? No. 1 Houston.
Fortunately for the Wildcats there is still plenty of basketball left to play, and they have a chance to move as high as a No. 2 seed if they win the Big 12 Tournament. Stay tuned.
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.