Arizona’s matchup with BYU just got a lot more compelling.
After stunning Kansas 91-57 on Tuesday, BYU climbed to No. 30 in the updated NCAA NET Rankings, which is the Quad 1 cutoff for a home game. That means Arizona could pick up its ninth Quad 1 victory of the season on Saturday — the second-highest total in the country behind No. 1 Auburn.
Coming into the week Arizona appeared to have only two Quad 1 opportunities remaining — at Iowa State on March 1 and at Kansas on March 8. Now the Wildcats have three, plus the Big 12 Tournament.
Why Quad 1 games are important
The 12-person NCAA Tournament Selection Committee puts a lot of weight on Quad 1 victories, which are defined as home wins against a top 30 team in the NET, or road wins against a top 75 team in the NET.
Arizona (18-8, 12-3) is currently ranked No. 9 in the NET, in large part because of its eight Quad 1 wins. The Wildcats have the most losses of any team in the top 10, but they continue to be ranked highly because of their strength of schedule.
According to KenPom, Arizona has played the eighth-toughest schedule in the country, ahead of Wisconsin (14th), Tennessee (16th) and Florida (41st). The Selection Committee has repeatedly said it values strength of schedule — and Arizona’s schedule is about to get even harder.
The Wildcats close the regular season with three Quad 1 games (BYU, at Iowa State, at Kansas) and two Quad 2 games (Utah, Arizona State). They’ll likely get a bye into the Big 12 Tournament quarterfinals where they’ll almost certainly play another Quad 1 game. Kansas, Baylor or West Virginia are their most likely opponents in the quarterfinals.
Arizona’s path to a No. 2 seed
In the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee’s first top 16 rankings of the season, released last Saturday, Arizona was ranked No. 12 and slotted as a No. 3 seed in the East.
If Arizona gets to the Big 12 Tournament championship game, they will likely head into Selection Sunday with at least 12 Quad 1 victories. That’s three more Quad 1 wins than they finished with last season — when they were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Last season, the four No. 2 seeds all had at least nine Quad 1 victories. Three of the committee’s current No. 2 seeds — Texas A&M, Purdue, Tennessee — have six or fewer Quad 1 wins, which means Arizona has a great chance to pass them in the seeding process. The other No. 2 seed, Tennessee, has eight Quad 1 wins and could easily plays its way into a No. 1 seed.
It’s unlikely the Wildcats can play their way into a No. 1 seed, but a No. 2 seed is very realistic — if they continue to win.
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