Arizona won their final two games at Houston over the weekend to end a four-game losing streak and hopefully help their NCAA Tournament resume. Several bracketologies project Arizona having a reunion with former Pac-12 rivals or former head coach Jay Johnson in the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona enters the Big XII Tournament as the fourth seed. Arizona will play the winner of Arizona State and BYU at 7 AM Mountain Standard Time on Thursday at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Wildcats enter the Big XII Tournament 37th nationally in NCAA RPI.
Arizona will have a chance to improve its RPI on Thursday with Arizona State at 46th and BYU at 59th. The Sun Devils would be a quadrant one neutral site game for the Wildcats and the Cougars would be quadrant two. Arizona won two out of three games at Arizona State and BYU this season.
As of Sunday, D1Baseball projects Arizona as the second seed in the Baton Rouge Regional with seventh national seed and host LSU, third-seeded Miami and fourth-seeded Miami (Ohio). LSU is the third seed in the SEC Tournament and will play their first game on Friday.
Micah Beutell of College Baseball Central projects Arizona as the third seed in the Eugene Regional hosted by ninth national seed Oregon, with Duke as the second seed. Duke is the seventh seed in the ACC Tournament and will play on Wednesday. Oregon plays in the Big 10 Tournament beginning on Thursday.
College Sports Madness projects Arizona in the Baton Rouge Regional with host LSU as the third national seed. New Orleans and Sacramento State are projected as the other two teams in Baton Rouge. College Sports Madness does not project seeds beyond the top 16 nationally.
Aria Gerson of the Tennessean projects Arizona as the third seed in the Corvallis Regional. Arizona is projected as the second seed in Corvallis, behind 11th national seed Oregon State and ahead of regional third seed UCLA and San Diego, who is fourth. This would be a reunion of three former Pac-12 rivals.
Winning the series in Houston was critical for Arizona's NCAA Tournament hopes. Arizona should secure a spot in the NCAA Tournament with a victory over Arizona State or BYU. A run to the semifinals or championship game of the Big XII Tournament would significantly improve Arizona's NCAA Tournament seeding.