Arizona basketball high up on Jay Bilas’ top 68 teams this season; ASU sneaks in

Arizona men’s basketball is viewed as “surprisingly well set up” in ESPN’s Jay Bilas’ top 68 teams this season after defeating the defending national champion Florida in their opener on Monday night.

Koa Peat led the way in the Wildcats’ 93-87 victory in Las Vegas with a historic college debut — 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Especially without the presence of its top scorer from last season — fifth-year senior Caleb Love, who averaged 17.2 points per game — Bilas was impressed by the flow of the youth-infused team under coach Tommy Lloyd in his fifth year at the helm.

Tommy Lloyd’s Wildcats are surprisingly well set up for a squad that lost five players from last season, including 2024 Pac-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love, who averaged 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.2 steals last season. Two five-star freshmen, Brayden Burries and Koa Peat, will be key contributors in Tucson, alongside a strong defensive core of returners.

Arizona landed at No. 17 in the rankings and was one of six Big 12 programs to be featured in Bilas’ top 20. And it was the fifth-highest rated.

Houston, which lost to Florida in last year’s national championship, came in at No. 2 behind Purdue and three other conference teams were placed ahead of Arizona — Texas Tech (No. 11), Iowa State (No. 15) and BYU (No. 16).

Kansas rounded out the six in the top 20 at No. 18.

Arizona State managed to squeak in as the 66th-best team, and Bilas simply referenced the elephant in the room regarding 11th-year coach Bobby Hurley, who is in the final year of his contract.

Bobby Hurley has taken the Sun Devils dancing only once in the past five seasons after making the NCAA tournament in two of his first four in Tempe. After going 4-16 in Big 12 play last season, they effectively have a new roster that will need to produce quickly to get the team back into the field of 68.

The Sun Devils got off to a 1-0 start behind an 81-64 win over Southern Utah on Tuesday, as Pepperdine transfer point guard Moe Odum had nine points and eight assists, but Hurley expressed his displeasure with how they won.

Sophomore guard Trevor Best was the lone returning ASU player from last season and he had seven points and two rebounds in 15 minutes off the bench.

Bilas said in his piece’s opening that he has been criticized for his rankings come Selection Sunday, but pointed out that his “Bilastrator” for the 2024-25 season correctly predicted the entire Final Four cast and seven of eight teams in the Elite Eight.

Arizona, full Big 12 performance on 2025-26 Bilas Index

• Houston (No. 2)
• Texas Tech (No. 11)
• Iowa State (No. 15)
• BYU (No. 16)
• Arizona (No. 17)
• Kansas (No. 18)
• Baylor (No. 22)
• Cincinnati (No. 39)
• Kansas State (No. 54)
• UCF (No. 56)
• TCU (No. 58)
• West Virginia (No. 59)
• Arizona State (No. 66)

Related

As advertised: Arizona's Koa Peat all over the floor in win vs. defending champ FloridaArizona coach Tommy Lloyd: 'Jaden Bradley gets no love'Bobby Hurley displeased with how ASU beat Southern Utah in season openerCourt rulings grant NCAA athletes from high school class of 2022 another year of eligibilityArizona Wildcats announce 2026-27 men’s basketball nonconference scheduleArizona’s Tommy Lloyd not interested in NBA after UNC interest