Wildcats Picked #5 in Big 12 Conference Preview

[wildcats76]

Big 12 Conference Preview 2024-25

Arizona was picked 5/16 in this conference preview which is the same placement as the Big 12 Preseason Poll. Houston, Kansas, Iowa St, and Baylor picked above.

Caleb Love was picked to first team all conference and talks about Bradley as a breakout candidate for this season. Has a starting lineup projection as well. Hopefully we finish higher than 5th.

[FOOS]

I'm glad we will have some tough, tough competition.  We will be much better prepared for March Madness than in previous years

[arxpert]

A standard reminder that Arizona is +500 odds to make the Final Four. That puts us tied for the 9th best odds (books vary, but consider us in the Top 10 to make it that far preseason).

[arxpert]

I'm glad we will have some tough, tough competition.  We will be much better prepared for March Madness than in previous years

For a fan like me who has always placed Conference Banners above all, the Big12 is like a "holiday" for me.

We get to have a marquee set of matchups almost every weekend. Top 25 games all year essentially. Recruits love consistency and Winning. So usually performing strongly in Conference Play sets up nicely for that as a recipe.

Beyond that we play Duke (Flagg). We also have a puncher's chance of playing Gonzaga if Tommy or Mark don't duck eachother.

So OOC Slate is a 6/10 in quality and strength from my POV, but one thing I like about Tommy (and Miller used to do this too) is they scheduled good quality Mid Majors. The types we may/could see in the 1st round of March Madness. It is worth scheduling those teams overall. We usually steamroll them, but they also usually give us a good 1st half / first 15min before he start pulling away.

So I rank Conference Banners as my most important to be consistent at contending for. Something we can control fully every year as opposed to the random nature of the Big Dance.

Then I rank the Conference Tournament - The Big12 will be a GAUNTLET. I wouldn't blame some teams for bailing out early - we have lost players (Kerr) to injuries or gotten banged up in general in the Pac12 Tourney's under Tommy. I think The Big 12 Tournament is the REAL Big Dance this year.

Then March Madness - A Sports Fan's Tradition. The best Thursday and Friday of the year into Saturday and Sunday slates. Surviving that First Weekend is very difficult, but if Tommy can do it 2 times in a row I will be impressed and I think it sets up for a good chance to make an Elite 8 at least. So that is my expectation and anything beyond that would just be 1 more game for me until the National Championship Game where my interest will pick up again to win it all. Why? Because if you get to the Final Four, you might as well go Win it All. It's not like you automatically get to go back!

Onward and Up

Beardown.

[FOOS]

I'm glad we will have some tough, tough competition.  We will be much better prepared for March Madness than in previous years

For a fan like me who has always placed Conference Banners above all, the Big12 is like a "holiday" for me.

We get to have a marquee set of matchups almost every weekend. Top 25 games all year essentially. Recruits love consistency and Winning. So usually performing strongly in Conference Play sets up nicely for that as a recipe.

Beyond that we play Duke (Flagg). We also have a puncher's chance of playing Gonzaga if Tommy or Mark don't duck eachother.

So OOC Slate is a 6/10 in quality and strength from my POV, but one thing I like about Tommy (and Miller used to do this too) is they scheduled good quality Mid Majors. The types we may/could see in the 1st round of March Madness. It is worth scheduling those teams overall. We usually steamroll them, but they also usually give us a good 1st half / first 15min before he start pulling away.

So I rank Conference Banners as my most important to be consistent at contending for. Something we can control fully every year as opposed to the random nature of the Big Dance.

Then I rank the Conference Tournament - The Big12 will be a GAUNTLET. I wouldn't blame some teams for bailing out early - we have lost players (Kerr) to injuries or gotten banged up in general in the Pac12 Tourney's under Tommy. I think The Big 12 Tournament is the REAL Big Dance this year.

Then March Madness - A Sports Fan's Tradition. The best Thursday and Friday of the year into Saturday and Sunday slates. Surviving that First Weekend is very difficult, but if Tommy can do it 2 times in a row I will be impressed and I think it sets up for a good chance to make an Elite 8 at least. So that is my expectation and anything beyond that would just be 1 more game for me until the National Championship Game where my interest will pick up again to win it all. Why? Because if you get to the Final Four, you might as well go Win it All. It's not like you automatically get to go back!

Onward and Up

Beardown.

Nice post.  Winning the Conference in the Big12 is a monstrous achievement.  Let's see if we can surpass the predicted 5th place.  Bear Down !!

[KansasCityCats]

This year's conference eerily reminds me of 1997. It's stacked at the top and Arizona will have serious competition.

Although we've only witnessed exhibition basketball, I'm impressed with the depth and effort from our team. Fingers crossed that it ends like 1997.

Regardless, any trophies earned throughout the season would be a huge accomplishment (conference title, tournaments, etc.).