College basketball experts predict Arizona will be upset in NCAA Tournament
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The Arizona Wildcats enter the 2025 NCAA Tournament with high expectations.
After finishing third in their first season in the Big 12 and advancing to the conference tournament championship game, Tommy Lloyd's team is poised for a deep postseason run.
Just don't tell the college basketball experts.
NCAA Tournament bracket predictions
CBS Sports released its March Madness expert predictions on Tuesday, and four of its college basketball reporters picked Arizona (22-12) to be upset in the second round by Oregon (24-9).
Jerry Palm, David Cobb, Dennis Dodd and Chip Patterson all picked the No. 5 seed Ducks to beat the No. 4 seed Wildcats on Sunday in Seattle. The other four experts picked Arizona to advance to the Sweet 16 and lose to No. 1 Duke.
Arizona finished the season ranked No. 12 in the NCAA NET Rankings, with 10 Quad 1 wins and the fourth-toughest schedule in the country. Oregon finished No. 29 in the NET with 8 Quad 1 wins and the 19th-toughest schedule.
Arizona faces No. 13 seed Akron in the first round, and Oregon faces No. 12 seed Liberty. Both games are on Friday. Many national pundits have picked Liberty to upset Oregon in the first round, so it's possible the Wildcats could avoid the Ducks altogether.
Oregon vs. Arizona Pac-12 connections
Oregon and Arizona are longtime Pac-12 foes, and Ducks fans only have to drive about 280 miles from Eugene to Seattle to watch their team this weekend. It's a safe bet Climate Pledge Arena will be packed with Oregon fans.
The Wildcats swept the Ducks in the regular season in 2023-24 — their last season in the Pac-12 — but lost to Oregon 67-59 in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals. Since taking over at Arizona in 2021, Lloyd is 4-2 against Dana Altman and Oregon.
Arizona and Oregon are now in the Big 12 and Big 10, but old-school Pac-12 fans should show up in droves this weekend — including Arizona fans living in the Pacific Northwest.
"Up in the Northwest we've got a lot of alums and I know that all those Pac-12 arenas felt like we had fans everywhere," Lloyd said on Sunday. "We had a great loyal following up and down the West Coast, so hopefully this will be a way for some of our fans up in the Northwest that don't get to see us now get an opportunity to watch us play."
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.