Arizona Basketball's March Madness resume following early Pac-12 Tournament exits
By Mason Duhon
No. 6-ranked and No. 1-seeded Arizona Basketball was unceremoniously knocked out of the 2024 Pac-12 Tournament in the Semifinals by No. 4 seed Oregon, but the season isn't lost yet. The severity of the loss is diminished by eight of the top 10 teams leaving their tournaments empty-handed and only UConn and Iowa State won their conferences. The season is still alive and well and Arizona can still make a late run despite the early exit.
Final Four appearances are elusive, and the 'Cats haven't had one since 2001 under the Lute Olson/Jim Rosborough tandem. Because of this, the benchmark for a "late run" is an Elite Eight appearance: it means that the 'Cats won three straight postseason games and cemented themselves as one of the top 10 teams in the country. Even a Sweet Sixteen appearance is commendable and worthy of mentioning on this list.
Let's take a look into the Arizona teams of the last 20-ish years who haven't won the Pac-12 Tournament and see where they ended up.