Last season, Arizona head coach Adia Barnes had a tougher schedule than was typical for the Wildcats. Whether that almost kept them out of the tournament or was the reason they squeaked in is certainly open to debate, but it’s not something the team will repeat this season.
The Wildcats will play Vanderbilt to start the 2024 Acrisure Classic in Palm Springs, Calif. They will then face either California or Michigan State. Those will be the only two games against power conference teams until Big 12 play starts.
Barnes pointed to the fact that several teams that got into the 2024 tournament with better seeds than Arizona did not play the tough nonconference slate the Wildcats had in 2023-24. She said that the schedule was too much for a team as young as hers and she wouldn’t repeat what she considered to be a mistake.
This year, the pendulum swings in the other direction. In addition to the teams at the Acrisure Classic, Arizona has two opponents that can give them problems. Those teams are UNLV and GCU. Both games will be played in McKale.
Play starts at the end of October with two exhibitions. West Texas A&M comes to Tucson on Friday, Oct. 25. Four days later, Cal State LA will face the Wildcats in the second exhibition.
UA starts the regular season on Monday, Nov. 4 against UT-Arlington, which went 17-16 and ended its season in the WAC Tournament semifinals last year. The Wildcats played at UTA two years ago, defeating the Mavericks 78-59.
Arizona faces another WAC team from Texas on Thursday, Nov. 7 when Tarleton State comes to town. The Texans went 11-20 last season. They were 7-13 in the WAC and advanced to the second round of the conference tournament. It will be the first meeting between the two programs.
The team hits the road to play UC San Diego on Sunday, Nov. 10. Arizona defeated the Tritons 81-38 in McKale Center last season. UCSD ended the season 12-19 overall and 8-12 in the Big West.
The Wildcats immediately return home to play UNLV. The Lady Rebels were a sterling 30-3 last season. They went 17-1 in Mountain West play, taking both the regular season and conference crowns. They were given a 10 seed in the NCAA tourney. Creighton bounced them in the first round.
One of UNLV’s 30 wins last season came against Arizona. The two teams met in Las Vegas in December. The Lady Rebels ran away with it, defeating the Wildcats 72-53.
That loss ended a five-game winning streak against UNLV for UA. The streak included a home victory in the opening round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Arizona goes back out on the road for the next two games. The first stop is at Chicago State on Saturday, Nov. 16. The two teams have played three times with Arizona winning all three. The last matchup was an 82-50 Wildcat win in 2019.
The Cougars went 1-26 last year and have had single-digit wins every season since 2010-11 when they finished 24-10. They have played as an independent for the past two seasons but moved into the Northeast Conference this season.
The Wildcats head up to Flagstaff to play NAU on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Arizona defeated their in-state foes 87-64 last season. It has a 34-6 record against the Lumberjacks with its last loss coming in 2017. That game came in the Wildcats’ six-win season and was also played in Flagstaff.
NAU had a strong 25-10 record last year including a 15-3 run through the Big Sky. It lost to No. 1 seed Eastern Washington in the conference tournament final. Its WNIT run was cut short with a first-round loss to South Dakota.
Arizona’s final appearance in McKale in November will be against Grambling State on Saturday, Nov. 23. It will be the first meeting between the two since 2016 when Arizona won 73-46. The Wildcats have won both contests between the programs.
The Thanksgiving tournament in Palm Springs takes the Wildcats away from Tucson the following week. UA plays Vandy on Tuesday, Nov. 26. Cal or Michigan State follows on Wednesday, Nov. 27.
The Commodores were 23-10 overall last season. They finished 9-7 in the SEC. Like Arizona, they were a member of the First Four. They beat fellow 12 seed Columbia to get into the round of 64, but they bowed out to No. 5 Baylor once they got there.
The Golden Bears went 19-15 last year. They were 7-11 in Pac-12 play and made the field of the inaugural WBIT. They went 1-1 at the new postseason tournament.
If the second opponent in Palm Springs is Michigan State, Arizona will play a team that went 22-9 overall and 12-6 in the Big Ten last season.
The nonconference slate wraps up in December with four home games. First up is Seattle University on Monday, Dec. 2. The Redhawsk went 6-23 last season with all six wins coming against fellow WAC teams. They lost to Arizona by the score of 89-52.
Thursday, Dec. 5 features a game that Barnes has been trying to get on the schedule for years, going so far as to say that if she were the athletic director of either school, she would force the teams to play. The GCU women’s team will finally play the UA women’s team.
GCU had a 24-8 record last season. The Lopes were 16-4 in the WAC. Their season ended with a first-round loss in the WAC Tournament.
CSU Bakersfield comes to Tucson on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The Roadrunners were 8-21 overall and 5-15 in Big West competition last year. It will be the third meeting between the two teams.
The pre-conference season comes to a close on Dec. 16 when Weber State visits McKale. WSU went 8-25 last season. That included a 4-14 run in the Big Sky.
