With wins in 10 of its last 11 games, Arizona needs to remain focused when they play at Arizona State on Saturday and BYU on Tuesday. Arizona is expected to beat Arizona State and BYU according to the ESPN Basketball Power Index and versus the Sun Devils by the Fan Duel Sportsbook.
Arizona has a 74.7 percent chance to beat Arizona State per the ESPN FPI and FanDuel lists the Wildcats as a 6.5 favorite over the Sun Devils on Saturday. Arizona is 13th in the NCAA Net Ratings after being 11th on Tuesday morning following the win over Iowa State. The Sun Devils are 58th in the Net Ratings.
Arizona State enters the game versus Arizona 12-8 overall, 5-3 at home and 3-6 in the Big XII. ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi lists Arizona State as the fourth team out of the NCAA Tournament in his update on Friday morning. A win over Arizona could put Arizona State into the projected NCAA Tournament field.
Arizona State started the season 8-1 with its only loss to Gonzaga. Arizona began the season 4-5 with losses to five highly-ranked teams. The fortunes of both teams have almost completely flipped since Big XII play began, Arizona State had lost four of its previous five games before a 70-68 win over Colorado on Tuesday night.
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— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) January 29, 2025
BYU is the third team listed as out in his Bracketology. Central Florida hosts BYU on Saturday. The Cougars will have a long trip home from Orlando, while Arizona has a 100-mile trip to Tucson after playing in Tempe. Arizona has a 53.7 percent chance to win at BYU per the FPI.
Arizona is projected as a five seed in the Midwest Regional, but he has them playing in the first two rounds in Seattle. Although Arizona State and BYU are road games this week, Arizona cannot afford losses to bubble teams if it wants to continue competing for a Big XII Championship and possible top-four regional seed in the NCAA Tournament.