Making the case for Arizona Basketball as the No. 1 seed

Selection Sunday is finally here, and as Arizona Basketball awaits to learn their fate, we make the case for the Wildcats to be the No. 1 overall seed.

What a season Arizona Basketball had! The Wildcats brought in a first-year head coach in Tommy Lloyd, they used a decent core of players to win a nation-leading 31 games all en route to also winning the Pac-12 Regular-Season Title and Conference Title.

However, coming into the year, the expectations weren’t this lofty. If you may recall, many experts and pundits had the Wildcats picked to finish around the middle of the pack in the Pac-12 Conference.

Beyond that, there certainly wasn’t a belief that Arizona could potentially be one of the best teams in the country either. That is why what the Wildcats have done this year has been nothing short of impressive.

And as we are about to learn the postseason fate for Arizona Basketball, we take a look at the Wildcats’ chances at potentially being the No. 1 overall seed.

Unquestionably, Arizona has had a great season, and while we understand that the Wildcats are unlikely to unseat Gonzaga as the No. 1 overall seed; however, the discussion is at least interesting nonetheless.

Here are the resumes between Arizona and Gonzaga!

Arizona Resume:

Overall Record: 31-3 (18-2)

Overall Ranking: 2
NET Ranking: 2
RPI Ranking: 4
Strength of Schedule: No. 70
Strength of Record: 2

Quad 1 Record: 6-3, Quad 2 Record: 9-0, Quad 3 Record: 9-0, Quad 4 Record: 7-0

Biggest Wins: Michigan, Illinois, USC (twice), UCLA (twice), Wichita State

Gonzaga Resume:

Overall Record: 26-3 (13-1)

Overall Ranking: 1
NET Ranking: 1
RPI Ranking: 2
Strength of Schedule: 79
Strength of Record: 8

Quad 1 Record: 10-3, Quad 2 Record: 2-0, Quad 3 Record: 1-0, Quad 4 Record: 13-0

Biggest Wins: Texas, UCLA, Texas Tech, St. Mary’s (twice), BYU (twice), and San Francisco (twice)

On paper, Gonzaga looks a bit better, after all, they have more Quad 1 wins. However, their overall strength of schedule is a bit weaker and that’s largely because of the conference that they play in.

St. Mary’s is a great team, but outside of that, San Francisco is 24-9 and finished fourth in the West Coast Conference. They are considered a Quad 1 team. Same with BYU, they are a “Quad 1 team” but finished fifth in the conference.

Overall, this is all a bit more challenging and convoluted. And again, I doubt Arizona unseats Gonzaga as the No. 1 overall seed; however, they do make a strong case, especially as they beat a talented UCLA team without their starting point guard.