Predicting Arizona's Showdown Against Florida

Arizona basketball will be tipping off its season against Florida on Monday under the bright Las Vegas lights.

Mar 13, 2025; Kansas City, MO, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley (0) shoots the ball during the first half against the Kansas Jayhawks at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

Welcome! To another edition of the Arizona Wildcats Insiders Podcast featuring your host Troy Hutchison, who will be delivering a daily podcast discussing everything happening surrounding Arizona athletics giving you an inside look  at all the programs on campus.

Hutchison has been covering Arizona for the last seven years with his coverage spanning all-across UA’s campus from football and men’s basketball to Title IX sports. Plus, with so many former Wildcats playing at the next level in their prospective sports there will be moments where he will take a deep dive into the Cats excelling outside of Tucson.

The wait is finally over, the college basketball season is here with No. 13 Arizona tipping off its season against No. 3 Florida in Las Vegas on Monday night at 4 p.m. (MST) on TNT. This marks the fifth season under head coach Tommy Lloyd, who will be looking to get over the Sweet Sixteen hump that has plagued the Wildcats.

Lloyd has been one of the most successful up-and-coming coaches in college basketball going 112-33 over the course of the last four seasons making the NCAA Tournament each season and leading the program to three Sweet Sixteen appearances.

Dec 14, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Trey Townsend (4) passes the ball against UCLA Bruins guard Skyy Clark (55) and guard Lazar Stefanovic (10) in the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

This will be another tough test for Arizona in the non-conference history with Lloyd at the helm. The Wildcats have put together one of the hardest non-conference slate of games once against Florida, UCLA, UConn, Auburn, Alabama and San Diego State.

This past season, Lloyd and his program entered a new era of Arizona basketball with the Wildcats leaving the Pac-12 and joining the Big 12 Conference. In UA’s first season in a new conference, the team went 24-13 while finishing third in the conference standings.

In the Big 12 Tournament, the Wildcats made it to the conference title game and fell 72-64 to Houston, which would go on to play for the National Title.

Mar 27, 2025; Newark, NJ, USA; Arizona Wildcats guard Caleb Love (1) drives to the basket against Duke Blue Devils guard Kon Knueppel (7) during the first half during an East Regional semifinal of the 2025 NCAA tournament at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

Following the end to the season, Arizona lost star guard Caleb Love to graduation and forward Carter Bryant to the NBA Draft where he went No. 14 overall to the San Antonio Spurs.

Plus, Arizona saw two key players in KJ Lewis and Henri Veesaar leave the program and transfer to Power 4 programs.

Despite that, Arizona will be fully loaded again with four key returners in Jaden Badley, Tobe Awaka, Anthony Dell’Orso and Motiejus Krivas. Plus, Lloyd and his staff signed the No. 2 recruiting class according to 24/7 Sports.

Dec 7, 2024; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Southern Utah Thunderbirds forward Jamari Sibley (14) and center Malik Lamin (32) battle for the rebound with Arizona Wildcats center Motiejus Krivas (14) during the second half at McKale Center. Mandatory Credit: Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images | Aryanna Frank-Imagn Images

Although Florida is the defending national champs, the Gators saw key players Walter Clayton, Will Richard and Alijah Martin graduate, which were the leaders in the backcourt for coach Todd Golden.

The two coaches are very familiar with each other with Golden and Lloyd’s history in the West Coast Conference at San Francisco and Gonzaga.

While Lloyd was the top assistant for the Bulldogs, Golden worked his way up from assistant to  head coach of the Dons from 2016 to 2022 before leaving for Florida.

Apr 7, 2025; San Antonio, TX, USA; Houston Cougars guard Emanuel Sharp (21) shoots the ball over Florida Gators forward Thomas Haugh (10) during the second half in the national championship game of the Final Four of the 2025 NCAA Tournament at the Alamodome.Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

This is not only a showdown of two Preseason AP Poll Top 25 teams but a clash of heavy weight squads that represent the two best conferences in college basketball, the Big 12 and SEC, which had six teams a piece in the rankings.

As we get closer to tip-off with the game one day away, we at Arizona Wildcats On SI have come up with our game pick between these two powerhouse programs.

Game Pick

• No. 13 Arizona: 82

• No. 3 Florida: 77

Reason

In these early season showdowns guard play matters more than anything and having a senior leader at the point guard position is a massive advantage for Arizona with Jaden Bradley running Lloyd’s offense.

Mar 23, 2025; Seattle, WA, USA; Arizona Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka (30) rebounds the ball against Oregon Ducks center Nate Bittle (32) in the first half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Plus, this game is being played in Las Vegas as a "neutral" site game, where the Wildcats have had plenty of success over the last 10-plus years. Arizona fans are known for traveling well and the environment in T-Mobile Arena will be a home court feeling for UA in what is expected to be a sold out crowd.

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