Arizona Basketball: 3 thoughts on Wildcats’ 2018-19 non-conference schedule

Last week, Arizona Basketball released their non-conference schedule for the 2018-19 season, which will disappoint many.

Arizona Basketball seems to be following a familiar playbook.

An oft-debated issue at the beginning of college football seasons relates to the propensity of big programs scheduling games against overmatched opponents. College basketball sees the same thing from time to time.

A cursory look at Arizona’s schedule for the 2018-19 non-conference schedule suggests the team is trying to ease into things after a controversial year, the departure of a superstar, and an unexpected early exit from the NCAA Tournament.

Their schedule looks awfully similar to last year’s. Outside of an early season tournament, Arizona only faced three major opponents: Alabama, Texas A&M, and UConn. They also beat UMBC, who would wind up going further in the NCAA Tournament than the Wildcats did (too soon?).

Two of those three games against major conference opponents took place at the McKale Center. The one against Texas A&M took place on grounds much further away: Talking Stick Resort Arena, home of the Phoenix Suns.

Once again, Arizona has very few games against high-level competition outside of an early season tournament.

To see their full non-conference slate, click here (h/t NBC Sports).

Here are three thoughts on Arizona’s non-conference schedule.