No. 5 Arizona and No. 22 UCLA are set to open the season with a familiar heavyweight matchup, meeting in the Hall of Fame Series on Nov. 2 in Las Vegas.
It’s the latest chapter in a rivalry that has already carried over through conference realignment. Arizona and UCLA will face each other for the third straight season since leaving the Pac-12, with the Bruins taking the first one 57-54 in Phoenix during the 2024-25 season before the Wildcats answered with a 69-65 win last season in Inglewood, Calif.
Arizona arrives with plenty of outside attention after a Final Four run last season ended with a loss to eventual national champion Michigan. The Wildcats were 36-3 a year ago, and that résumé made them the preseason favorite to win the Big 12. They also bring the league’s preseason player of the year in 7-foot-2 center Motiejus Krivas.
Even with that praise, Tommy Lloyd isn’t letting his team get caught up in it.
"Preseason accolades don't mean anything," Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd said after Friday's 82-67 home preseason victory over San Diego State. "We're a program that's way more based on the substance of what you do over the course of the season, and postseason awards.
Those are the meaningful ones. So we haven't even talked about it as a team, and we're on our own journey right now, and we're not defending anything.
"No one can take away from us what we did last year, and the only way you can go do something this year is you got to go do it. So we're looking forward to that challenge of going out and competing for a Big 12 championship with a lot of really good teams. By no means do we think we're a step ahead of anybody."
Arizona has some major names to replace after losing Big 12 Player of the Year Jaden Bradley, Brayden Burries and Koa Peat from last year’s team. But Krivas and forward Ivan Kharchenkov are back after both averaged 10.4 points per game last season. Krivas also pulled down 8.2 rebounds per game.
And while Krivas was recognized as the Big 12’s preseason top player in October, he brushed off the label.
"I wouldn't say it's anything," he said. "Team awards and awards at the end of the year are more rewarding."
The biggest new face is Caleb Holt, a McDonald's All-American guard who is projected to be one of the first picks in the 2027 NBA Draft. Lloyd made clear he sees more than just upside.
"He's one of the best young off-ball defenders I've ever been around," Lloyd said of Holt.
UCLA, meanwhile, is coming off a 24-12 season and was picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten by the league’s media. The Bruins return guard Trent Perry, swingman Eric Dailey Jr. and big man Xavier Booker, and they also added Texas Tech transfer guard Jalen Petty.
Petty arrives with a reputation as a dangerous shooter after making 69 3-pointers while averaging 9.9 points per game last season. Mick Cronin expects him to turn heads.
"He's a high-level player," Bruins coach Mick Cronin said about Petty at Big Ten media festivities. "I would say he will be the guy that Big Ten fans, people don't know. ... They'll be shocked."
UCLA lost Tyler Bilodeau and Donovan Dent, but Dailey believes the group in Westwood will be just fine.
"We believe in our system. We believe in Coach," Dailey said.
"We believe in the program, and all the guys that stayed truly believe that. We're here for a real reason, and we're here to put on a show for UCLA and be the next wave of Bruins that makes something shake."
Cronin knows what his team is walking into in the Big Ten, and he didn’t sugarcoat it.
"It's just hard to win. You have really great players, great coaches and great road environments," Cronin said.
"The actual games are hard. The guys in this league play hard.
It's a bunch of big, strong and tough guys. It's certainly not for the weak."
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