With three double-digit wins in the NCAA Tournament, ESPN ranked Arizona first in their "Men's March Madness 2026: Ranking the remaining eight teams" posted early on Saturday morning. Arizona plays Purdue at 5:49 Mountain Standard Time in the NCAA Tournament West Regional Final in San Jose.
Arizona dominated Arkansas in a 109-88 win on Thursday in the West Regional Semifinals. The Wildcats became the first team in NCAA Tournament history with six players to score at least 14 points. Freshmen led the way for Arizona as Brayden Burries scored 23 points, Koa Peat had 21 and Ivan Kharchenkov 15.
Myron Medcalf of ESPN wrote an extensive summary explaining why he ranked Arizona first among the last eight teams in the NCAA Tournament. Arizona began the season with wins over then third-ranked Florida and Connecticut and number 15 UCLA. Medcalf said, "Arizona has been chasing greatness all season."
Mecdalf continued by noting that Arizona gave Arkansas head coach John Calipari the worst NCAA Tournament loss of his career. Arizona became the first team since 2000 to have 60 points in the paint and 30 free throws in an NCAA Tournament game, per Medcalf.
1-SEED ARIZONA DOMINATES 4-SEED ARKANSAS 🔥
— ESPN (@espn) March 27, 2026
The Wildcats keep dancin' to their first Elite Eight since 2015 ‼️ pic.twitter.com/ZEu96WAKiP
Arizona has been full of impressive feats in a season with 12 wins over ranked teams and only two losses. Per Medcalf, via KenPom, Arizona is fourth in adjusted offensive efficiency and third in adjusted defensive efficiency. Medcalf also added, "It's also difficult for opponents to know who to target because of their depth."
Among the remaining teams, Michigan (fifth and first) and Duke (sixth and second) are the only other teams playing in regional finals in the top 10 in KenPom in offensive and defensive efficiency. Florida was ninth in offensive efficiency and sixth in defensive efficiency, but lost to Iowa in the NCAA Tournament second round.