Arizona Wildcats Holding Steady in Early Men’s College Basketball Power Rankings
A goal for all of the top teams in college basketball, such as the Arizona Wildcats, is to avoid disaster in the early going.
Out of the gate, teams will schedule a few winnable games to build confidence and knock off the rust from the offseason.
That is what Tommy Lloyd’s crew had on tap the first week of the year with games against the Canisius Golden Griffin and Old Dominion Monarchs at the McKale Center.
Both contests were blowouts, as the Wildcats defeated the Golden Griffins 93-64 before decimating the Monarchs 102-44.
It was a good opportunity for some of the less experienced players to get their feet wet as Lloyd expanded his rotation for these games. Players such as Motiejus Krivas were also afforded the chance to get into a rhythm working back from injury.
Handling business as expected, it should come as no surprise the team didn’t move in the power rankings done by Jeff Borzello of ESPN. They held steady at the No. 9 spot, while the top five a little bit ahead of them were shaken up.
“Two early notes for the Wildcats: Tennessee transfer Tobe Awaka went for 18 and 15 against Old Dominion, while Estonia native Henri Veesaar is finally showing some of the promise that made him such an intriguing recruit several years ago, averaging 9.0 points and 5.5 rebounds through two games.”
Performances like that are nice against lower-echelon teams, but can they be replicated when the competition improves?
Lloyd certainly hopes so, since his squad is going to be challenged over the next few months.
Arizona is a legitimate title contender in a loaded Big 12 that features several upper-echelon teams, and that opinion won’t change after those two games, but there are tougher matchups that lie ahead.
The team is going to be challenged over their next few contest with a matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Kohl Center on Nov. 15.
A week after that, one of the biggest non-conference games of the season awaits as the Wildcats will welcome top prospect Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils to Tucson to finish a home-and-home series that began last year.
Arizona got the best of Duke at Cameron Indoor, and the Blue Devils will be motivated to return the favor.
Following that huge matchup, the team heads to the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament with an opening game against the Davidson Wildcats. A potential meeting with the Gonzaga Bulldogs or Indiana Hoosiers, and former center Oumar Ballo, could await in the finals.
Don’t forget a Pac-12 rivalry that will now continue as a non-conference game when the Wildcats face off against the UCLA Bruins on Dec. 14.
