8. Arizona (5-5)
Last year, the Big 12 added four teams, with one of those new teams (Houston) winning the league with impressive play. This year, the Big 12 is adding four more teams and Arizona is unquestionably the best of the incoming group. Unfortunately, the Wildcats are not living up to gaudy preseason expectations and find themselves just .500 at this point in the season.
Part of the reason that the Wildcats have such expectations is the return of Caleb Love, the fifth-year guard who starred at North Carolina before winning Pac-12 Player of the Year last season. He’s averaging 14 points a game but is underperforming and he’s not alone. A talented roster with international flair just isn’t living up to their potential. Junior guard Jaden Bradley and Oakland transfer Trey Townsend each average at least 11 points per game but it hasn’t been enough.
Let’s be clear: the Wildcats haven’t been upended by weak teams, they’ll played a very strong schedule. The problem is that their best win is either Davidson or Samford, as they lost all five of those tough opportunities. Arizona lost by double-digits at Wisconsin and at home against Duke before dropping games in the Bahamas to Oklahoma and West Virginia. Putrid late play proved deadly against UCLA last weekend for a team that’s still trying to find its footing.
Regardless, this offense still has talent and this team ranks Top 10 in the nation in rebounding. What’s killing the Wildcats isn’t just that Love is struggling but this team cannot making its 3-pointers with any consistency. They have the talent to be a really good team in this league, but it’s hard to say that with any confidence when we’ve just seen them constantly failing to meet that potential. Maybe that’ll change when league play begins, though remember that these league rivals are mostly new to them.