NCAA Basketball: 10 teams primed to lose early in 2023 NCAA Tournament

Arizona

There is no shortage of superlatives to describe the great performance that Arizona has had since Tommy Lloyd took over the program last year. The Wildcats grabbed a top seed last season and went to the Sweet Sixteen and are in position to contend for a 1-seed again this year. While winning this year’s Pac-12 title might not be in the cards, sitting two games back of UCLA with three games left, Arizona has shown its prominence in impressive wins over Indiana, Tennessee, Creighton, San Diego State, and that very same Bruins team.

Azuolas Tubelis is having a fantastic season and his frontcourt partner Oumar Ballo is turning heads as well. It’s hard to find a more talented and impressive pair in the back of an offense and defense, with the two of them among the nation’s best-rebounding core. Throw in the leadership of Kerr Kriisa, the shooting ability of Courtney Ramey, and the nice campaign being had by Pelle Larsson and you’ve got a pretty lethal group, so why are they prone to an early upset?

Arizona looks dominant most of the time but has really fallen flat in their four losses this season. You could argue that all four of their losses (all of which were in Pac-12 play and by at least 9 points) could’ve been wins. There are nights when the shooters go stone cold, and when the defense can’t keep up with those opportunities, then you have moments where you lose by 13 at home to Washington State. What if that happens in the second round of the Tournament against a 7 or 8 seed eager to prove themselves?