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Arizona Basketball: Men’s Basketball teams’ biggest Pac-12 Rival is…

By Shereen Rayan

TUCSON, ARIZONA - JANUARY 13: Guard Kerr Kriisa #25 of the Arizona Wildcats talks with head coach Tommy Lloyd of the Arizona Wildcats during the second half of the NCAAB game at McKale Center on January 03, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. The Arizona Wildcats won 76-55 against the Colorado Buffaloes. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
TUCSON, ARIZONA - JANUARY 13: Guard Kerr Kriisa #25 of the Arizona Wildcats talks with head coach Tommy Lloyd of the Arizona Wildcats during the second half of the NCAAB game at McKale Center on January 03, 2022 in Tucson, Arizona. The Arizona Wildcats won 76-55 against the Colorado Buffaloes. (Photo by Rebecca Noble/Getty Images) /
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TEMPE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 31: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils gestures during the second half of the college basketball game against the Arizona Wildcats at Wells Fargo Arena on January 31, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils beat the Wildcats 95-88. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TEMPE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 31: Head coach Bobby Hurley of the Arizona State Sun Devils gestures during the second half of the college basketball game against the Arizona Wildcats at Wells Fargo Arena on January 31, 2019 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils beat the Wildcats 95-88. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

Which team is the biggest rival for the Arizona Basketball Men’s team today? Is it ASU, UCLA, or what about Oregon?

After I watched UCLA beat Arizona Basketball last week in Pauley Pavilion, it dawned on me just how much it stung to lose to the Bruins. Both my Wildcat daughters almost covered their eyes during the last minutes of the game in the stands and one of their best friends had to leave with two minutes left, he just couldn’t take it.

But who is the Wildcats’ biggest rival?

Making the Case for ASU

As we are all well aware by now, ASU is a huge rival for the Arizona Football team and virtually every other sport, but Arizona leads ASU in matchup wins (156–86) in basketball, and although it is really fun to see Bobby Hurley upset and ASU losing to Arizona, one would assume Sun Devils aren’t the biggest rival in Men’s basketball for the Wildcats.

Making the Case for Oregon

The University of Oregon Ducks has always seemed to find a way to be one of the better teams in the Pac-12, at least recently. They have been crowned Pac-12 Champions in 2013, 2016, and 2019 and have been coached by Dana Altman for almost 12 years.

Altman has seen many of his players move up to the NBA after college, his teams have made multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, and they are very well known in college basketball.

Since 1949-50, Arizona holds the overall matchup record 51-36; however, Arizona has lost the last seven games against the Ducks, three of them at home in McKale Center. Oregon is a contender for Arizona, but not the biggest rival.

Making the Case for UCLA

On March 15, 2013, against UCLA, former Arizona Head Coach Sean Miller got called for a technical foul. With about 4:47 to go in the second half, Mark Lyons was driving the ball when UCLA’s Jordan Adams touched the ball. But the Pac-12 refs called a double-dribble on Lyons, and as a result, Miller reacted to the refs, shouting many times, “He [Adams] touched the ball!”

Now what a lot of folks missed during that game was the opposing coach Steve Alford, was so upset at one time during the game as he ripped his suit jacket off and threw it into the stands, no technical was foul called.

Later it was revealed that the Head Pac-12 ref had encouraged his subordinates to “T-Up” Miller, with trips abroad as a bonus. He was eventually fired. But the fact remains, both coaches were hot during the game.

Again, in 2017, another Pac-12 Championship semi-final game against UCLA, Miller called a timeout with 0.9 seconds left on the clock. Now, what’s so interesting about that? Well, Miller had a time-out left, and he usually wins games when he has a time-out left. But even more glaring was that the Cats had the game won ahead by 11 points.

The team and assistants were laughing their heads off, Kobi Simmons especially was caught on camera laughing, they all knew.

Miller said that it was to make sure his team was “poised” for the rest of the game. However, as we all were aware, Miller called that time out perhaps being petty as just two weeks prior, UCLA head coach Alford had called a time out in a similar situation. This was retribution and is the epitome of some classic rivalry stuff.

Now, you would think that ASU would be Arizona men’s biggest rival in basketball, but even Jon Wilner, The Mercury News wrote that UCLA vs. Arizona is “The best basketball rivalry in the Pac-12.”

This season, the first of another classic UCLA vs. Arizona matchup was postponed due to COVID protocols within the Bruins’ program, but many thought because both teams had openings on their calendar it would have happened earlier.

And when it didn’t, fans accused UCLA of postponing the game until UCLA Head Coach Mike Cronin’s Bruins were back in shape, and oh did we forget to mention, UCLA allowed fans back in the stands after January 21st.

The actual game was played on January 25th and was the third game in a week on a long road trip for the Wildcats.

After all these years, beating ASU has been fun, but when Arizona beats UCLA, that puts a huge lift in my step. So we thought we would ask ourselves and the fans which team they thought were the bigger rival(s) for Arizona Men’s Basketball.

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