Is Arizona headed to Seattle for 2025 NCAA Tournament?
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The Arizona Wildcats (22-12) found out their NCAA Tournament fate Sunday afternoon — and Tommy Lloyd is indeed heading "home."
The two leading NCAA Tournament Bracketologists — ESPN's Joe Lunardi and CBS Sports' Jerry Palm — predicted Arizona would be placed in Seattle for the first weekend of the tournament. And they were.
Arizona is officially the No. 4 seed in the East Region and will play No. 13 Akron in the first round Friday in Seattle. Lloyd, Arizona's fourth-year head coach, grew up about two hours south of Seattle in Kelso, Washington, and spent the first 21 years of his coaching career at Gonzaga in Spokane, Washington.
Regional placement
Being placed in the West or Midwest would have meant less travel for Arizona. If the Wildcats advance to the Sweet 16 they will travel to Newark, New Jersey and likely face No. 1 seed Duke.
The ideal placement would have been the West Region, with a potential trip to San Francisco for the Sweet 16. The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee typically tries to reward teams with strong resumes by keeping them closer to home. The Wildcats had a strong resume and finished the season ranked No. 12 in the NCAA NET Rankings.
Best and worst top seeds
The top overall seed is Auburn, and Arizona wanted to avoid being placed in the Tigers' region. Auburn is the No. 1 seed in the South.
Most experts agree the weakest No. 1 seed is Florida, and they're the top seed in the West. That would flip to Duke if Cooper Flagg can't play with his ankle injury.
Houston is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest.
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.