Alrighty Wildcat fans, it’s time to mark those calendars. On Thursday, the Big 12 and Arizona Men’s Basketball released the 2026-27 conference schedule ahead of the start of the season.
Tommy Lloyd and the Wildcats are coming off a season that included Big 12 regular season and tournament titles, as well as the program’s first Final Four appearance in 25 years. They open conference play at Iowa State in Hilton Coliseum on January 2, then return to Tucson for the Big 12 home-opener against UCF on January 6. Arizona is back on the road for a Wildcat-on-Wildcat showdown against Kansas State on January 9, then hosts BYU on January 12, the day before spring classes start.
The Wildcats then host in-state rival ASU, led by new head coach Randy Bennett, on January 16. Arizona returns to Lubbock for the first time since the 2024-25 season for a matchup against Texas Tech on January 22, then hosts former Pac-12 foe Utah on January 26. The UA rounds out the month of January with a cross country trip to West Virginia on January, then visits Cincinnati on February 2.
Tommy Lloyd’s group returns home for a big-time showdown against Houston on February 6, then hosts TCU on February 8 on ESPN’s Big Monday. The Wildcats then travel up the I-10 to face ASU in Tempe on February 13, before traveling to Stillwater for a contest against Oklahoma State on February 16.
Arizona returns to Tucson for the first of two marquee matchups, the highly-anticipated game against Kansas on February 20. The Wildcats then travel to BYU for their second Big Monday appearance of the season on February 22.
Arizona wraps up the season hosting Baylor on February 27 and Colorado on March 3, before visiting Houston on March 6 for the regular season finale. The Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City runs from March 9 through March 13.
Last season, the Wildcats finished with a 36-3 record, beginning the season on a program- and conference-best 23-0 start. Arizona has a balanced schedule against the Big 12’s eight NCAA Tournament selections from a season ago – (4) Kansas, (9) TCU, and (10) UCF are only at home, (2) Iowa State, (5) Texas Tech are solely on the road, while (2) Houston and (6) BYU are home-and-away games.
Tommy Lloyd has once again put together one of the nation’s toughest non-conference schedules in the country. Arizona opens the season on Monday, November 2 in Las Vegas against former Pac-12 rival UCLA as part of doubleheader with Gonzaga and Purdue. The Wildcats’ women’s basketball team is also part of the opening day event and will face the Stanford Cardinal.
The Wildcats also complete close out their home-and-homes with Auburn (road) and UConn (home) and will participate in the Southwest Maui Invitational during Feast Week. The non-conference schedule also features a marquee matchup against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden on December 5 and a repeat of the Wildcats’ 2026 Sweet Sixteen game against Arkansas in Phoenix on December 19.