Arizona Wildcats Road Woes
Arizona is one of the best and deepest teams in the nation, and each of the Wildcats’ four losses this season was to Pac-12 Conference foes. Three away losses and a horrible home loss to Washington State leave Arizona 1.5 behind the UCLA Bruins with three remaining games on the schedule.
Leading scorer Azuolas Tubelis has struggled recently–the junior forward from Lithuania scored just four points in the Wildcats’ terrible away loss and has failed to score 19 or more in his last three games.
His minutes have declined due to foul trouble, but the Wildcats have won four of their past five without Tubelis at his best, and that’s a scary thing.
The Wildcats will have had over a week off before returning to the hardwood Saturday when they host arch-rival Arizona State at McKale Memorial Center.
Arizona beat the Sun Devils by nine points earlier this season, and if the Wildcats have any hope of winning the Pac-12, they have to win this contest. The Wildcats should win this contest by 10 points, but it is a rivalry and may end up closer than Arizona would like.
Arizona Hits the Road
The Wildcats take a 5-3 away conference record to California for a Thursday matchup with the USC Trojans. They close their regular season with a Saturday, March 4 contest with No. 4 ranked UCLA.
It goes without saying, but the Wildcats need to win both–USC is 14-1 at home this season, and the Bruins are 15-0 at home.
Can Arizona Win the Pac-12 Conference Regular Season Championship?
Yes, Arizona can win the Pac-12, but they will need help.
Arizona is a +450 favorite to win the conference, but they are 1.5 games behind UCLA–the Bruins have four remaining contests. Still, they have challenging away games this week with surging Utah Utes and Colorado Buffaloes teams. If UCLA loses one or both of these away games, all Arizona would have to do is win out their schedule, and they will be the Pac-12 champions.
Arizona has had its issues on the road during conference play, but the week off gave the Wildcats a chance to recharge, and +450 won’t be on the board if UCLA loses Thursday at Utah or Saturday at Colorado.
Phil’s Betting Tip: This is where a risk-free bet like the one FanDuel AZ offers first-time customers comes in handy.
New verified users depositing at least $10 into their FanDuel betting account can make a risk-free bet of up to $1000 on their first bet. I would use that promotion and make a risk-free bet on Arizona winning the Pac-12 Conference regular season title.
Pac-12 Tournament Odds
Arizona should be among the top favorites to win the Pac-12 when the conference tournament commences March 8-11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Wildcats and Sun Devils should be favored in the tourney, but the betting odds have yet to be revealed. Check back at Betting AZ for our Pac-12 betting guide with predictions.
Can Arizona Reach the Final Four?
Yes, the Wildcats +330 at DraftKings can reach the Final Four.
The Conference tournament odds aren’t on the board yet, but Arizona is listed as a +330 to reach the Final Four. The Wildcats are projected to be a #2 seed and are good enough to make a deep March Madness run.
The Wildcats are 4-0 on neutral courts, boasting the 6th best offense and No. 40 ranked defense on the KenPom efficiency charts.
Phil’s Betting Tip: Arizona is projected to be the #2 seed in the West Regional, and the road to the Elite looks smooth. Kansas could be the #1 seed in the West, and they’ll need to get past a Jayhawks squad with 14 Quad-1 victories to its credit.
New DraftKings Arizona users can get $150 in betting credits with a verified account and a minimum $5 deposit, and I would bet one of those $25 free bets on the Wildcats reaching the Final Four.
