If you are an Arizona Basketball fan every time the years 1988, 1994, 2001 and especially 1997 are mentioned in any context your mind probably races to glorious March memories.
Those Final Four years are the benchmark for the most successful program out West for the past 30 years.
But what about the teams that didn’t make it to the final weekend of the college basketball season?
There have been many near misses in the recent past, that are still clear in Arizona fans minds, but there are five seasons that represent some of the most forgotten teams during the McKale Center era.
Next: No. 5
No. 5. 2008-09
When the 2008-09 season began, the Arizona program was in disarray. The Cats were on their third coach in less than a year and recruits started heading elsewhere.
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When Lute Olson retired, new assistant Russ Pennell was given the keys to Arizona’s basketball kingdom. Pennell was a folk hero in Tucson that season because of what he accomplished with a broken team.
The Cats only finished 9-9 in conference play, but two key non-conference wins over Gonzaga and Kansas were able to squeak the Cats into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 12 seed.
The Cats surprised everyone by making a run to the Sweet 16 before falling to powerhouse Louisville.
It would be the last year Arizona fans would be able to see Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill in an Arizona uniform. They both declared for the NBA Draft right before Sean Miller came to town.
Next: No. 4
No. 4. 2001-02
The 2001-02 team was the last Arizona squad to win the conference tournament before the 2014-15 Cats got it done during T.J. McConnell‘s senior year.
Luke Walton was named the tournament MOP, and Salim Stoudamire had 29 points in the championship game against USC.
Arizona’s late season surge allowed them to be placed out West in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed, at the Pit in Albuquerque.
A few seasons earlier, Lute Olson vowed never to come back to the Pit after a controversial late-game clock malfunction cost the Cats the game against the Lobos.
The Lobo fans could not wait to boo Arizona when they were forced to return to the storied arena, but it was sweet revenge for Olson and the Cats as they picked up two wins to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
Next: No. 3
No. 3. 1995-96
The Cats leaned on seniors Reggie Geary and Ben Davis during a season in which the Cats were a year away from immortality.
Arizona got the nation’s attention after defeating Allen Iverson‘s Georgetown Hoyas in the preseason NIT title game, but the most memorable moment of the campaign was when Miles Simon hit a 75-foot shot as time expired to defeat the No. 5 Cincinnati Bearcats.
Olson’s squad made its sixth run to the Sweet Sixteen before falling to the Kansas Jayhawks.
Next: No. 2
No. 2. 1975-76
Fred Snowden‘s most successful year in Tucson came during his fourth season in the desert. The Cats helped Snowden win his only WAC championship during a season in which the Cats made it’s first major noise in the big dance.
The Cats made a run to its first Elite Eight by taking out some of college basketball’s coaching giants.
The Cats were victorious over John Thompson‘s Georgetown Hoyas during their first game in the tournament.
Next up for the Cats was a match-up against Jerry Tarkanian‘s UNLV Runnin’ Rebels Squad.
Arizona guard Herman Harris had 31 points in Arizona’s 114-109 overtime victory over Vegas in one of the top games in school history.
Next: No. 1
1. 1985-86
This team did not make it as far as the 1975-76 team, but they accomplished something no one in Tucson had thought was possible just a few years earlier.
The Cats went into Pauley Pavillon with Pac-10 Freshman of the year Sean Elliott and beat UCLA to win its first Pac-10 Championship.
Since that March day in 1986 the Cats have won 14 Pac-10/12 regular season titles while UCLA has added nine to their trophy case.
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