Arizona Basketball: Wildcats release the 2017-18 schedule

The Arizona Wildcats just released the 2017-18 schedule. Let’s take an in-depth look at the season ahead.

Fourty-three days. That’s the amount of time left before tip-off of the 2017-18 Arizona Wildcat basketball season. Fans no longer have to wait to find out who and when the Wildcats are playing because the 2017-18 schedule was just released.

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From exhibition games, to neutral site non-conference match ups, Pac 12 regular season and post season and the NCAA tournament, there are many reasons to be excited about this upcoming season for the Wildcats.

One of those reasons would be the incredible depth the Wildcats have this season. Making them quite the force to be reckon come March.

This past summer, we got a little glimpse of what to expect when the team traveled to Spain and they did not disappoint!

Several months ago, the non-conference schedule was announced, giving the fans a little insight into the scheduled games (note, that schedule did not include the Battle for Atlantis matchups). The Cats will be facing NC State in the opening round. If they win, they would face the winner of Northern Iowa/SMU. After that, they could end up playing Villanova, Tennessee, Purdue or Western Kentucky! High caliber NCAA Tournament teams facing each other in November in the Bahamas  – that’s why college basketball is so exciting to watch!

After the non-conference season is complete, the Wildcats begin Pac-12 conference play on December 30th. Last season they finished with a conference record of 16-2. The only two losses came against Oregon and UCLA, who were stacked with talent and finished the season well.

This season, the Wildcats will start Pac-12 play, at home, against that “other team” up north – Arizona State Sun Devils (I think is what they are called, who knows??). No better way to wrap up the year then with a win over the Devils!

Next, they go on the road, where the Cats finished 8-1 last season. The team will be tested early when they face Utah and Colorado. Both the Utes and Buffaloes finished in the middle of the conference and are looking to improve this season. They also lost some key talent to the NBA and will look to the underclassmen to have big roles.

After the first road trip of the season, the Wildcats return back to home sweet home to face the Oregon schools. Last season, the Cats beat the Ducks 83-80 to win the Pac-12 Championship. The Ducks will be looking for some revenge, while the Beavers will look for the monumental upset and improve their overall record from last season. They finished at the bottom of the Pac -12.

Back on the road again! The Wildcats will hit the road again to face Stanford and California. The Bears finished last season in the middle of the conference, while the Cardinals ended up towards the bottom. Cal will have big shoes to fill this season with both Ivan Rabb and Jabari Bird now in the NBA. Stanford may well be the sleeper in the Pac-12 this year. They will have the most experienced team in the conference and have two talented freshman joining their squad. The Wildcats will need to stay focused on this road trip to leave the Bay area 2-0.

The Cats will then travel back home to face Colorado and Utah one more time and then they will travel to the northwest to play the Washington schools. Both schools finished at the bottom last season. After losing No.1 NBA Draft pick Markelle Fultz and Coach Lorenzo Romar, the Huskies will be in a rebuilding mindset this year. Ernie Kent and the Cougars will be looking to redeem themselves, from their double loss against the Cats last year.

The Wildcats will then head back to McKale Center where they will face USC and UCLA. Both schools finished towards the top of the conference last season and are looking to make another deep run during the postseason. UCLA and Arizona split their regular season matchup with the Cats having the final say in the Pac-12 tournament semifinal. The Trojans will be among the contenders this season with leading scorers Bennie Boatwright, Chimezie Metu and Elijah Stewart returning to play. The Trojans are stacked and these players along with De’Anthony Melton who competed in the finals all played in the Drew League this summer competing against NBA players.

These two games will be fun to watch!

Next, the Cats will play against the Devils, Ducks and Beavers on the road. Then they will play the Cardinals and Bears at home to wrap up the regular conference before heading into the Pac-12 tournament and then FINALLY- March Madness!

Must Read: More on Arizona Basketball

The basketball season is coming! With the next chapter in Arizona basketball about to be written, Zona Zealots will be there to provide you all the latest news, updates, results and anything Wildcat basketball related. All of the games will be aired on various networks: Pac-12, ESPN, ESPN 2, CBS,  CBS Sports, Fox and FS1 with a possible appearance by Bill Walton. There will be a few early start games and of course late start games. So buckle in and Bear Down, it’s going be one heck of an awesome ride!