Arizona singlehandedly salvaged an otherwise forgettable NCAA tournament performance for the Big 12. 

The league sent only three teams to the second weekend, half as many as the Big Ten, and Houston and Iowa State both lost by double digits in the Sweet Sixteen. 

When Purdue went on a run to put Arizona down by seven at halftime of their Elite Eight matchup, it was hard not to think the worst. But that’s exactly when the Wildcats proved that they’re not like everyone else. 

Arizona dominated the Boilermakers in the second half, shooting 51% without a single turnover after the break. The Wildcats overwhelmed Purdue with relentless physicality and effort. It wasn’t quite the 60 points in the paint they scored against Arkansas in the Sweet Sixteen, but it felt like it.

Arizona’s balance was on display yet again. Four players scored at least 14 points, and three of those were freshmen. 

They play a throwback style of basketball. In this post-Steph Curry era, where everything is built around three-point shooting, Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd built this team around points in the paint and free throws. 

The Wildcats are 363rd in the country in three-point rate, meaning they take fewer threes than all but two teams in the country. Nobody has made the Final Four playing that way since North Carolina in 2008. 

And it’s not like Arizona is a poor shooting team. At 36.7%, the Wildcats rank in the top 40 in three-point percentage. They can beat you from beyond the arc, but they don’t have to.

It’s basically recession-proofing a basketball team. Bad shooting night in March? Totally fine. Jaden Bradley will get to the rim at will, and Koa Peat will dunk everything in sight.

The run the Wildcats are on is historic. They’re back in the Final Four for the first time since 2001, and they’ve won all four NCAA tournament games by an average of 20.5 points per game. Only five teams have been more dominant over the last quarter-century.

To put it simply: Arizona is good. And don’t take my word for it. Take John Calipari’s. 

That’s a national championship-winning head coach who was left completely shell-shocked after the Wildcats steamrolled his Arkansas Razorbacks with 60 points in the paint and 30 points at the free-throw line.

Now comes a Final Four showdown with Michigan. Many consider the Wolverines to be the favorites to win the national title. They just beat Tennessee by 33 points in the Elite Eight. 

It’s not fair to say that there’s extra pressure on Arizona to fight for Big 12 respectability, but winning a national title would go a long way toward making everybody forget about the injury-riddled Big 12 falling short. 

National championships mean more than ever for a conference’s reputation in this era, and the Big 12 needs all the help it can get, especially after a dismal performance in the College Football Playoff. 

No matter what happens, it’s clear that Arizona and the Big 12 have a symbiotic relationship, with each benefiting from the other. The Wildcats have pushed the league forward, while the competition the Big 12 provides has helped prepare this Arizona team better than the Pac-12 did in years past. 

Can Arizona Keep Tommy Lloyd?

Once the Final Four is over, Arizona may have another battle on its hands. They’re going to have to fight to keep Tommy Lloyd in Tucson with North Carolina on the prowl for a new head coach. 

The latest reporting from The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman suggests that Lloyd is at the top of Carolina’s list right now. 

This On3 article is behind a paywall, but the headline shows that UNC’s search is getting pushed back a week. It’s easy to infer why. Both Lloyd and Michigan head coach Dusty May are candidates for the North Carolina job, and both advanced to the Final Four. 

Green Bay head coach and longtime media personality Doug Gotlieb even says that Lloyd’s relationship with AD Desireé Reed-Francois is fractured and that UNC had Michael Jordan call Lloyd late last week. 

Lloyd also raised some eyebrows when he went out of his way to say this at his press conference after beating Purdue. 

Now, Lloyd could very well be leveraging Arizona for more NIL money, more money for assistants, and more money for himself with comments like that. He has all the leverage he could possibly need right now. Frankly, it would be smart business.

But there is enough smoke to make Wildcats fans understandably nervous. 

I don’t have a clear read on what Lloyd will do. I do think Carolina is one of only three to five jobs in college basketball that could lure him away from a job as good as Arizona.

I just hope whatever decision he makes comes after cutting down the nets in Indianapolis a week from today.

What You Need to Know

• It’s gutwrenching to listen to Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson talk about having to sit out of the Cyclones loss to Tennessee with an ankle injury. 

• One of Iowa State’s biggest stars is going to test the NBA draft waters. 

• Three of Colorado’s top four men’s basketball players have announced plans to enter the transfer portal. 

• K-State has landed its first two players under new head basketball coach Casey Alexander. 

• The SEC was exposed again during the NCAA tournament. 

• Texas Tech billionaire Cody Campbell wrote this op-ed in USA Today about how to save the future of college sports. 

• Here’s the latest on new Arizona State men’s basketball coach Randy Bennett’s health scare.

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