Arizona men’s basketball announces 2024 nonconference schedule

Posted by author September 9, 2024 Basketball

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Less than two months before the 2024-25 season is set to begin, Arizona has finally announced its nonconference schedule. And while there are several quality opponents on the slate, it also gives an indication of how future non-league scheduling will be as the Wildcats transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12.

The UA will play six nonconference home games at McKale Center, beginning Nov. 4 against Canisius. There are four neutral site games, including three at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas and the renewal of the rivalry against UCLA in Phoenix, as well as a mid-November trip to Wisconsin.

The highlight of the home schedule is the Nov. 22 showdown with Duke, the return game of a home-and-home after the Wildcats went to Cameron Indoor Stadium last November and made it their own. The other five home opponents, though, are more indicative of the lighter scheduling that Big 12 schools tend to do in order to balance out the overall schedule with all the expected tough conference games.

Canisius, which was 14-18 last season, finished the year ranked No. 278 on KenPom.com. Old Dominion, whom Arizona hosts on Nov. 9 to wrap up the opening week of the season, was No. 287 and went 7-25 in 2023-24.

In December the UA hosts Southern Utah (242), Samford (81) and Central Michigan (282), with Samford the only one to have made the postseason as the Bulldogs nearly upset Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

A quick scan of nonconference slates of other Big 12 teams find even more low-rated teams than Arizona. Iowa State, for example, hosts four sub-300 KenPom teams while Texas Tech has three.

Arizona could play a pair of top-100 teams in the Bahamas depending on how the bracket falls out. Its opening foe, Davidson, finished 125^th last season but the second game will be against either Oklahoma (46) or Providence (59) and the finale could feature a matchup against Gonzaga (12) or Indiana (91).

No word yet on when the Big 12 will release the league schedule, but the first games are expected to be during the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Arizona knows which teams it will face at home and away, just not when or in what order.