During an interview with John Fanta of NBC Sports, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd discussed the importance of the Wildcats' rivalry with UCLA. Arizona and UCLA play on Friday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, with an 8 PM Mountain Standard Time tipoff on Peacock.
Arizona has 50 wins and 64 losses against UCLA. The intensity of the Arizona-UCLA rivalry grew infinitely when Lute Olson became the Arizona head coach in 1983. Olson had a 28-23 record against UCLA over 25 seasons as the Arizona head coach.
Olson had a close relationship with legendary UCLA head coach John Wooden, who led the Bruins to 10 national championships. The style Olson's teams played with and the way he coached were similar to Wooden. Their relationship began when Olson was the head coach at Long Beach Community College from 1969 to 1973.
Lloyd has six wins and three losses against UCLA. Arizona lost 57-54 to UCLA in 2024 in Phoenix. The game between Arizona and UCLA in 2025 was originally scheduled for Las Vegas. Arizona and UCLA are not scheduled to play in 2026 and the contract is to resume in 2027.
"That rivalry is so important. It's so much bigger than him (UCLA head coach Mick Cronin) or me...we both realize that...I followed Lute Olson....He followed John Wooden...We're never going to trump those guys...We just want to honor the legacy of the program...Connecting those two programs and playing on an annual basis is something we really look forward to...it's really important and it's an incredible challenge. It makes a great coach...you know, going into that game, no matter what either team's record is, it's going to be a battle."Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd
Between 1986 and the final year of the Pac-12 (10) as we knew it, Arizona won 18 conference championships and UCLA won 10. Arizona won nine and UCLA four of the 26 Pac 10/12 Tournament titles. The Pac 10/12 Tournament was played from 1987 through 1990, 2002-2019 and 2021-2024.
Cronin preceded Lloyd in the rivalry by two years. UCLA won its first five games against Arizona under Cronin. That included the first one against Lloyd. Arizona has won six of the last eight games against UCLA. UCLA rallied from a 13-point deficit to beat Arizona in 2024.
The UCLA rivalry remains the most important for Arizona, for now. Arizona and UCLA are no longer playing for conference titles, with the Wildcats moving to the Big XII and the Bruins to the Big 10 in 2024. Arizona played UCLA four times in the Pac 10/12 Tournament Championship Game and 10 times in the tournament overall.
With Arizona and UCLA now in separate conferences, the potential of them playing in the NCAA Tournament increases significantly. The intensity of an elimination game would likely be the pinnacle of the Arizona-UCLA rivalry. Arizona eliminated former Pac 10/12 rival Oregon in the 2025 NCAA Tournament second round.