NCAA Basketball: 25 best team rivalries heading into 2019-20 season
By Joey Loose
17. Arizona Wildcats vs. UCLA Bruins
The lone Pac-12 rivalry on our list is one based on basketball talent and not geography. It’s easy to argue that Cal-Stanford or Washington-Washington State are intense rivalries, but the two best teams in the conference have certainly had their share of tussles.
While UCLA dominated the entire college basketball scene in the 1960s, Arizona has certainly proved they belong in this rivalry in the last few decades.
The UCLA lead sits at 58-43, though it could change rapidly, as these teams play every year in conference play. They’ve played each other in five of the last seven Pac-12 Tournaments and will continue to be the two best programs in the conference. Both teams struggled last season, but have remained competitive with each other, splitting the last six matchups since 2017.
UCLA knocked off Arizona in the Elite Eight in 1976, the rivalry’s lone NCAA Tournament game. The Bruins blew the Wildcats out this past season, but they just played an intense overtime game in the Pac-12 semifinals in 2018.
Going further back in time, it’s hard to ignore UCLA ending Arizona’s 71-game home winning streak with a wild win back in 1992. There was also UCLA’s stunning upset of No. 1 Arizona in the 2003 Pac-10 Tournament.
Before 1980, these two programs had only played 15 times, so many of this rivalry’s big moments have come from recent memories. With Sean Miller restocking and Mick Cronin taking over the Bruins, these could be some exciting games again soon.
The Pac-12 might be at its best when these two are playing like blue-bloods, something we certainly haven’t seen in recent times.