Year 1 of the Tommy Lloyd era in Tucson has sports bettors in Arizona dreaming big.
The Wildcats are 26-3 and fresh off a 91-71 shellacking of the USC Trojans in Los Angeles — clinching the program’s first Pac-12 regular-season title in four years.
Arizona is looking for its first Final Four appearance in 21 years and for the elusive second national title some 25 years after the Wildcats last won it all.
As the Ides of March arrive, here’s a rundown of where the Wildcats rank in college basketball betting national championship odds.
Wildcats No. 2 Pick Behind Gonzaga
The one consistency across the best sports betting apps Arizona has is that Lloyd’s bunch is the runner-up in terms of NCAA title odds.
The Wildcats sit second at BetMGM Arizona (+600), Caesars Sportsbook Arizona (+750), DraftKings Sportsbook Arizona (+700), and FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona (+600).
The only site that has Arizona lower than second overall is TwinSpires Arizona, which puts the Wildcats (+750), behind Gonzaga (+350) and Kentucky (+700).
FanDuel Sportsbook Arizona also has secondary odds on the Wildcats’ shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament (-900) and to make the Final Four (+155).
Lloyd’s team ranks second in both, behind his former head coach Mark Few and the Bulldogs, who are listed at -3500 and -115, respectively.
What Stands Between Arizona and a No. 1 Seed?
The Wildcats close their regular season with consecutive home games, against Stanford (7 p.m. Thursday) and Cal (3 p.m. Saturday), before jumping into the Pac-12 tournament next week. This year’s NCAA Tournament field will be unveiled at 4 p.m. Arizona time on March 13 on CBS.
Arizona has won 21 of its last 23 contests against the Cardinal, including an 85-57 throttling of Stanford in Palo Alto earlier this year.
The Wildcats have been just as successful against the Golden Bears, winning 10 consecutive games. The program’s last loss against Cal came on Jan. 23, 2016, when they fell in Berkeley, 74-73.
Wins against both Stanford and Cal would give Arizona an 18-2 mark in Pac-12 play — breaking the program record of 17 conference wins set on five different occasions (1987-88, 1988-89, 1992-93, 1997-98, and 2002-03).
The Pac-12 expanded its conference schedule from 18 to 20 games for the first time in 2020.
No men’s team has ever won more than 17 games in Pac-12 conference play (the Stanford women’s team has done so on several occasions).
