Arizona has not won a national championship since 1997, and last made a Final Four in 2001.
In 2023 it became the first program in the country to lose to a 15-seed in the first round of the tournament for a second time, and its history of soul-crushing losses in the Sweet 16 and Elite 8—often times as the higher seed and favorite—is as full as it is well documented.
Consistently coming up short in the big dance has provided ASU trolls like ESPN’s Matt Berrie and misguided analysts like Kyle Dodd fodder for essentially declaring that Arizona always underachieves and is not nearly the program Wildcats fans think it is.
Granted, most of their ire is rooted in the fact that their men’s basketball program (and, lately, most every other sport one could care about) is either mediocre or just plain bad. That they have stronger opinions and care more about Arizona hoops than ASU is pretty on brand for the Sun Devil “faithful”.
But just as it is said there is a hint of truth within every joke, recent history especially has provided ammunition for anyone who wants to say Arizona is an overrated wannabe blue blood.
The thing is, Arizona is not a blue blood, at least not to the level of a Kansas, Duke, Kentucky or now UConn.
The Cats may also fall behind the likes of Michigan State and North Carolina, and some would make a case for Indiana and UCLA.
All of those programs have won a lot. Games, conference titles, conference tournament championships, preseason tournaments. Check, check, check and check. Most of those programs have won national championships in the last 20 years, and all have made the Final Four since Arizona’s last appearance.
So if you want to say Arizona is not a blue blood, fine. There’s no defined standard, but it’s tough to argue against what the Cats haven’t done, especially compared to those whose banners were hung during a time when the vast majority of their student body was, well, alive.
But if you are taking that stance and going further, asserting that Arizona is not one of the country’s premier programs, you are sadly mistaken.
Lute Olson’s arrival in 1983 led to Arizona’s ascension as a program, a trajectory that has continued even without him on the sideline. Some programs struggle in the years after losing a Hall of Fame coach, but Arizona survived the transition from Olson to Kevin O’Neill and Russ Pennell before finding stability with Sean Miller. Then, when things got a bit bumpy under Miller, the ship was steadied by Tommy Lloyd.
Through it all Arizona has continued to put quality teams on the court. Some have been better than others, but the point is the program has withstood and sustained.
Some could even argue it has thrived. Boasting the eighth-best winning percentage of all-time is nothing to sneeze at, nor are the amount of preseason tournaments, conference tournaments and big games won. Arizona is also in the top 10 for first round NBA draft picks. Once again there are a handful of schools who are better there, such as Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina and UCLA, but there are far more programs in Arizona’s rearview mirror than viewable through the windshield.
Draft picks are nice, but Final Fours are nicer. Winning games is great, but winning the last one is the goal.
In that regard, Arizona has fallen short time after time after time. It’s been disheartening for fans, delightful for haters and nationally, to those who pay attention, just kind of the way things go.
Not for Arizona specifically, but for most of college basketball.
It’s why even after another early exit and with the likely departure of most—if not all—of the team’s starting lineup, the way-too-early rankings all had Arizona somewhere in the top 20. It’s also why high-level recruits consider the Wildcats and elite transfers, such as Trey Townsend and Tobe Awaka, as well as guys like Caleb Love, Keshad Johnson and Jaden Bradley last year decided to make their way to the Old Pueblo.
The program’s NIL support helps, yes. But it’s not nearly the most robust in the sport (we’re looking at you, Kansas and Indiana) so there has to be more to it. In the past always being on TV was a draw but nowadays if you want to watch a team play, you can.
Scheduling big games likely plays a role, too, but that’s a bit of a circular deal. Arizona is able to schedule marquee nonconference games because they are a marquee opponent, finding ranked opponents in tournaments, neutral site games or home-and-home series. The Wildcats are a big draw and fun opponent to face, which is due to the fact that they are a big-time program.
More than anything, though, the fact that so many people have an opinion of Arizona shows just how important they are to college basketball. Obviously their fans are passionate about the program, but even their haters—such as those who purportedly root for ASU—have an emotional reaction to whatever Arizona does on the court.
None of them will (or should, anyway) care more about Arizona than actual Arizona fans, who have the privilege of rooting for one of the country’s best programs but have suffered the pain from watching it fall short in the tournament. Few fanbases could truly understand what that’s like, though most all who follow the country’s best teams have seen their program get upset and fall short in the dance.
After all, seeds of eight or lower have made it to the Final Four in each of the last four years and the last time the last weekend was made up of all top seeds was 2008. Put simply, this means upsets happen every year, which means every year there are fan bases who envisioned cutting down nets but instead got to watch their team slowly walk off the court with their heads down.
Arizona has done it more often than any of us would like, which is why it is not and should not be thought of as one of the sport’s very best. But given all the program has accomplished and how it is perceived, Arizona is in the next tier down, with a clear path to moving up.