ARIZONA BASKETBALL

2015 NCAA Tournament: Arizona Wildcats earn No. 2 seed in West region

Mar 15, 2015, 9:02 PM | Updated: Mar 16, 2015, 1:11 am

Follow @AZSports...

The Arizona Wildcats are the first team since 2008 to win the Pac-12 regular-season and tournament championships in the same season.

It wasn’t quite enough to earn the Wildcats a No. 1 seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, but it helped them secure a geographical advantage and set up a possible chance at payback against the team that ousted them from last year’s tourney.

UA was selected as a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s West region Sunday and will face 15th-seeded Texas Southern in the tournament’s second round at 11:10 a.m. Thursday at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.

If the Wildcats win that game, they’ll face the winner of seventh-seeded VCU and 10th-seeded Ohio State in Portland on Saturday.

Wisconsin is the West region’s No. 1 seed. Last season, the No. 2 seed Badgers beat top-seeded UA in overtime to advance to the Final Four.

The Wildcats will likely have a significant home-court advantage should they advance to the tournament’s regional semifinals and finals. They would play those games at Staples Center in Los Angeles, which is located less than 500 miles from UA campus in Tucson.

Arizona ended the 2014-15 regular season with a 31-3 record and 16-2 mark in the Pac-12. They won their second consecutive conference regular-season championship and earned their first Pac-12 Tournament title since 2002 by beating Oregon on Saturday.

The Wildcats were a No. 2 seed the last time they advanced to the Final Four in 2001. That team fell to top-seeded Duke in the championship game.

Kentucky (Midwest region), Villanova (East region) and Duke (South region) are the other No. 1 seeds in the 2015 tournament.

Arizona Basketball

Arizona Wildcats guard Jaden Bradley against Clemson in the Sweet 16...

Kevin Zimmerman

Arizona basketball stars go cold in Sweet 16 loss to Clemson

Caleb Love and Pelle Larsson carried Arizona into the NCAA Tournament but they shot the Wildcats out of their Sweet 16 matchup vs. Clemson.

11 hours ago

Arizona Wildcats center Oumar Ballo against Clemson in the Sweet 16...

Arizona Sports

Oumar Ballo Nerf-hoop dunks it in Arizona’s Sweet 16 loss to Clemson

The No. 2 Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 against the No. 6 Clemson Tigers showed some pop late in the first half with Oumar Ballo's dunk.

13 hours ago

Keshad Johnson #16 and Pelle Larsson #3 of the Arizona Wildcats speak at a press conference before ...

Damon Allred

Grind of final Pac-12 season prepared Arizona basketball for March

No. 2 Arizona men's basketball will look to make it past the Sweet 16 for the first time in Tommy Lloyd's tenure.

2 days ago

Caitlin Clark celebrates...

Associated Press

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is inspiring a younger generation of players

Caitlin Clark's deep range has expanded the scope of possibilities for up-and-coming women's basketball players.

2 days ago

Chase Hunter #1 and PJ Hall #24 of the Clemson Tigers high five during the first half against the B...

Vincent DeAngelis

Clemson basketball looks to continue ‘underdog’ run against Arizona in Sweet 16

No. 6 seed Clemson takes on Arizona on Thursday after upsetting No. 3 seed Baylor in the 2024 NCAA Tournament round of 32

2 days ago

(L-R) Caleb Love #2, Keshad Johnson #16, Oumar Ballo #11, and Jaden Bradley #0 of the Arizona Wildc...

Vincent DeAngelis

Re-ranking Arizona basketball among Sweet 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament

Multiple publications rank the Arizona Wildcats around the middle of the pack among the Sweet 16 team still in the NCAA Tournament.

4 days ago

2015 NCAA Tournament: Arizona Wildcats earn No. 2 seed in West region