Joe Lunardi has Arizona as a No. 1 seed in first 2027 March Madness bracket
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Predicting which teams will make the NCAA Tournament six weeks before the season even begins is a difficult task. This year, with hundreds of players still in eligibility limbo, it feels like an impossible task.
But that's exactly what Joe Lunardi of ESPN has done, and with it comes more sky-high expectations for Tommy Lloyd and the Arizona Wildcats entering the 2026-27 season.
Lunardi has Arizona as the No. 1 seed in the West Region, where they would play in Sacramento against the winner of a play-in No. 16 matchup between Bethune-Cookman and Long Island.
The other two teams in the projected pod are No. 8 Ohio State and No. 9 Oklahoma out of the Big Ten and SEC, respectively.
Arizona enters 2026-27 with massive expectations
Lloyd enters his sixth season in Tucson after finally breaking through in the NCAA Tournament last year, taking the Wildcats to the Final Four for the first time since 2001. But Lloyd had tremendous regular-season success prior to last year's deep run, with Arizona earning two No. 1 seeds, two No. 2 seeds, and a No. 4 seed in the five years he has been on the sideline.
Lunardi clearly believes this Arizona squad will be back atop the mountain in 2027, and it's not hard to see why. The Wildcats return two high-level starters in center Mo Krivas and forward Ivan Kharchenkov, who will both be in the preseason All-Big 12 conversation after averaging in double figures last year.
The Wildcats once again bring in a loaded freshman class as well, with 5-star guard Caleb Holt a legit candidate to go No. 1 overall in the 2027 NBA draft, while 4-star wing Cameron Holmes has an NBA pedigree thanks to his older brother DaRon, and is a good athlete and projectable two-way talent.
Arizona still has questions to answer
The core is excellent for Arizona, but there are questions about the team's overall guard depth and at power forward. RJ Godfrey was a beast last year at Clemson and is a near-perfect fit to replace Koa Peat at the four...but he's currently ineligible after the NCAA granted a stay request in the Georgia lawsuit, which initially gave him eligibility.
While his status certainly could change, for now, the 6'7 bruiser is not eligible to suit up for Lloyd's club - putting more pressure on Kharchenkov, Holmes, and backup Maxsim Brnovic to contribute right away.
Additionally, the Wildcats are relying heavily on a pair of sophomore transfers to run the point in North Carolina's Derek Dixon and Washington's JJ Mandaquit.
Both were excellent facilitators with high assist and low turnover numbers last year on power conference clubs, and Dixon is a high-level shooter and scorer who should start right away next to Holt and Kharchenkov.
But after Mandaquit, the backcourt depth dramatically falls off, with Bryce James - who redshirted last year - the only other guard expected to play rotation minutes on the roster.
Lunardi projects 10 Big 12 teams in the field
Lunardi projects 10 teams from the Big 12 to make the field in 2027, with the expansion to 76 teams playing a key role in getting that many teams in the mix.
Joining the Wildcats from the Big 12 are Houston (3 seed), Kansas (4), Texas Tech (5), Iowa State (5), BYU (6), Oklahoma State (10), Baylor (11), TCU (11), and West Virginia (12).
Baylor and West Virginia are included in the last four in, while Cincinnati and Arizona State are the top two teams listed among the first four out.
Arizona begins the season Nov. 2 in Las Vegas against former Pac-12 rival, and projected No. 7 seed, UCLA. The game is set to tip at 7:00 PM PT at T-Mobile Arena.
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