Arizona Picked Near The Bottom In The Big XII Preseason Coaches Poll

Arizona was picked 14th out of 16 Big XII teams in the preseason coaches poll. The Wildcats received 47 points. Houston, with 41 points, was picked to finish 15th and Central Florida is 16th in the Big XII preseason poll with 22 points.

TCU with 10 first place votes and 219 points is picked to win the Big XII. Iowa State, Baylor and Oklahoma State who were the other Big XII teams to receive first place votes were picked second through fourth in the 2025-26 preseason poll.

Audi Crooks of Iowa State 2025-26 Big 12 Women's Basketball Preseason Player of the Year. The Big XII Newcomer of the Year is Olivia Miles of TCU and the 2025-26 Big XII Preseason Freshman of the Year is Dee Alexander of Cincinnati.

Eight schools are represented on the 10 player preseason All-Big XII team. No Arizona players were named to the 2025-26 preseason All-Big XII team. Redshirt junior forward Montaya Dew is the only returning player for Arizona in 2025-26. Dew averaged 2.5 points in 29 games in 2024-25.

The 14th-place finish would be the worst by an Arizona team in program history. Arizona finished 12th in the Pac-12 twice under former head coach Niya Butts. Arizona was 19-15 overall and 10-8 in the Big XII in its final season in 2024-25 under Adia Barnes.

The 2024-25 season was the worst finish for Arizona since the Wildcats were 24–13 overall and 7–11 in eighth place in the Pac-12 in 2018-19. Arizona missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 2025, since it was not held during the 2020 COVID pandemic.

Becky Burke is entering her first season at Arizona in 2025-26. Burke was 61–37 in three seasons as the head coach at Buffalo. Buffalo won the 2025 WNIT. Burke is 91-60 in five seasons as a Division I head coach and 174–92 in 10 seasons overall, leading a college basketball program.