Since their loss to Colorado in the Big 12 Tournament second-round on Thursday, Arizona has fallen a few spots on the NCAA Tournament bubble. During the broadcast of the game on Thursday, the announcers mentioned Charlie Creme of ESPN has Arizona in the NCAA Tournament with a win over Colorado.
With 23 conference tournament championship games on Sunday, Arizona is fourth among the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament by Creme. The NCAA Net Rating for Arizona improved from 58th earlier this week to 56th late on Saturday night. Virginia Tech, St. Joseph's and Minnesota are listed ahead of Arizona on the bubble.
Creme has the Hokies, Hawks and Golden Gophers as the first three teams listed as out. Iowa State, Washington, Princeton and Harvard are the last four at-large teams in the NCAA Tournament listed by Creme. Creme has Harvard playing Washington to be an 11th seed and Iowa State playing Princeton to earn a 10 seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
OArizona's downfall this season in their quest to earn an NCAA Tournament berth will be their 1-6 recent versus teams in the NCAA Net Ratings in quadrant one, 2-5 against quad two and 4-2 with quad three opponents. The Wildcats boosted their 19-13 record going 12-0 against quad four.
final from Kansas City: Arizona 58, Colorado 61#MadeForIt x #LeaveALegacy
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaWBB) March 6, 2025
Arizona will almost definitely earn a berth in the WBIT or WNIT if they do not earn an NCAA Tournament berth as expected. The top four seeds in the WBIT are the first four teams left out of the NCAA Tournament as determined by their selection committee. If Creme is correct, Arizona would receive an automatic bid to the WBIT.
Arizona would be one of the top four seeds in the WBIT based on the above criteria and host through the quarterfinals as long as they keep winning. The WBIT semifinals and finals are played at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on the campus of Butler University. The WBIT has a 32-team field.
The WNIT has a 48-team field that includes teams who receive automatic berths and teams who receive at-large selections. One team from each of the 31 Division I conferences is will receive and automatic berth to the WNIT. The automatic berths go the highest finishing team in each conference who are not playing in the NCAA Tournament.
Other criteria per the WNIT web page must have a "minimum 13 wins, excluding non-DI or exhibition games (and a) 1-120 NET ranking." Arizona clearly fits the above criteria. Arizona is one of the few programs nationally that has won an NCAA Tournament game in each of the last four seasons. That streak is likely over.