Tommy Lloyd Must Clear Major NCAA Tournament Hurdle with Loaded Arizona Squad

The Wildcat head coach must find a way to advance deep into March with one of the best teams in the country

Mar 7, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Tommy Lloyd reacts in the second half against the Colorado Buffaloes at the CU Events Center. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

There might not be a more talented team in the country this year than the Arizona Wildcats.

The No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the No. 1 seed in the West Region, Tommy Lloyd has a team that’s good enough to win the National Championship but in order to do so he must go to a place that he’s never been – the Elite 8 and beyond.

In his previous four seasons as the head coach of the Wildcats, Lloyd has built impressive teams that have been high seeds in the NCAA Tournament – specifically his first year that went 33-4 (18-2 PAC-12) – but has come up short in March Madness.

That team in 2021-22 reached the Sweet 16, as did his 2023-24 and 2024-25 squads, but it’s been a challenge to get over the hump and that must change this season for Arizona.

This team, led by the trio of Brayden Burries, Koa Peat, and Jaden Bradley, is too good not to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament. Arizona rolled through the Big 12, which many claimed was the best conference in the country this year, starting 23-0 (10-0 Big 12).

After losing back-to-back games on the road against Kansas and against a healthy Texas Tech team in overtime, a game in which Peat was injured early, they didn’t lose again – winning nine straight games en route to the Big 12 Tournament Championship over Houston.

It was the Wildcats’ second win over the Cougars in the stretch, the first coming on the road in emphatic fashion.

In comparison, Jon Scheyer has gradually gotten Duke to a different level of the NCAA Tournament in each of his first three seasons. The Blue Devils have been bounced in the Round of 32, Elite 8, and Final Four during his tenure.

But now comes the part of the season that will truly judge how good of a season Tommy Lloyd and Arizona had.

The Wildcats open its NCAA Tournament path against No. 16 LIU in San Diego on Friday (1:35 p.m. ET, TNT) which would be followed by a matchup against either Utah State or Villanova on Sunday.

In the Sweet 16, a tough battle against either Arkansas or Wisconsin could be looming.

Again, it won’t be easy for Arizona but this team feels like Tommy Lloyd’s best chance to have a major March breakthrough.