Arizona near the top of National CBB Writer Big XII Power Rankings

On the CBS Sports College Basketball podcast, Jon Rothstein, who has covered the sport for a long time, did a breakdown of the Big XII. Rothstein has Arizona fourth in his Big XII power rankings and mentioned Jaden Bradley as a player underrated in the conference.

Rothstein has Houston first, BYU second and Texas Tech third, ahead of Arizona, in his Big XII power rankings. Iowa State and Kansas are directly behind Arizona. The top two players in the 2025 class per the 247Sports composite rankings, Devyn Patterson to Kansas and A.J. Dybantsa to BYU, signed with Big XII programs.

Chris Cenac Jr., who is seventh in the 2025 class, signed with Houston. Arizona has the top Big XII tandem in the 2025 class with combo guard Brayden Burries ninth in the 2025 class and forward Koa Peat, the 11th-ranked 2025 signee nationally.

That makes five of the top 11 players in the 2025 class signing with Big XII programs. All five are expected to have impacts as true freshmen. Burries and Peat are the first pair of five-star signees in the same Arizona class since Josh Green in 2019.

"In the four hole, you have Arizona under Tommy Lloyd... If you're looking at a player now that's underrated in the Big 12...it's Jaden Bradley...He is a multi-year starter...somebody who plays the most important position on the floor at point guard...not getting enough attention nationally but is a huge, huge, huge returning piece for Tommy Lloyd, who's also going to bring back Anthony Dell'Orso, good role player as a shooter. Toby Awaka, Mo Krivas should be back after missing a majority of last season due to an injury. And Tommy Lloyd also brings in two top-tier freshmen in Brayden Burries and Koa Pete. It feels like business as usual for Arizona. "

Jon Rothstein, CBS Sports

The returns of Awaka, Bradley, Dell'Orso and Krivas give Arizona a foundation for the 2025-26 season. Bradley enters his third season with Arizona and his second as the starting point guard. Awaka and Krivas are returning starters. Krivas solidifies the post for Arizona in 2025-26.

Awaka is one of the best rebounders nationally and Dell'Orso is critical for Arizona as their best three-point shooter. Arizona needs to improve its three-point shooting in 2025-26. Bradley should be an improved three-point shooter in his final college season and Burries will be expected to contribute as a scorer as the season develops.

The Big XII was the third-best conference nationally in 2024-25 behind the SEC and Big 10. The talent entering the Big XII among the top six teams should allow the conference to compete to be the best in 2025-26. How well the five-star freshman develop is critical for the Big XII in 2025-26.

In four seasons under Lloyd, Arizona has not finished lower than third in their conference. Arizona won the Pac-12 regular season in their first and third seasons under Lloyd and finished tied for second in his second season. Arizona finished 14-6 and tied for third in their inaugural season in the Big XII in 2025.

Lloyd led Arizona to a 47-13 record in three seasons in the Pac-12. Moving to the Big XII during the 2024-25 season was a big jump in competition from the Pac-12. Add an incredibly challenging 2025 non-conference schedule and Arizona will be tested by the time they begin Big XII play.