Conference Pac-12 Conference AP No. 7 Head coach Sean Miller (8th year) | Coaches No. 8 2016–17 record 26–4 (15–2 Pac-12) Associate head coach Joe Pasternack | |
The 2016–17 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team will represent the University of Arizona during the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by eighth-year head coach Sean Miller, and will play their home games at McKale Center in Tucson, Arizona as members in the Pac-12 Conference.
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Previous season
The Wildcats finished the 2015–16 season with a record of 25–9, 12–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in a tie with California for third place. The Wildcats entered the Pac-12 Tournament as a 4 seed where they beat Colorado in the quarterfinals, but fell in the semifinals to Oregon in overtime. Arizona received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the program's 33rd overall appearance, as a No. 6 seed in the South Region. They lost in the First Round to Wichita State.
Season
Coming into the '16-'17 season Arizona has been ranked in 78-consecutive AP polls & 81-straight coaches polls. The 93-consecutive weeks in the AP poll is currently the second-longest streak in the nation behind Kansas at 157 weeks. They have been ranked every week in the 2016-2017 season, bringing those totals to 93 weeks for the AP & 96 weeks for the coaches poll. Arizona won its first 10 conference games, the best start since the '97-'98 season when they started 16-0.
2016 Recruiting class
Arizona's recruiting class has been ranked among the top 5 in the nation. However, due to eligibility concerns, five-star recruit Terrance Ferguson chose to play internationally and not attend Arizona.
Roster
Schedule and results
In Arizona's non-conference schedule the team hosted Cal State Bakersfield, Grand Canyon, New Mexico, Texas Southern, UC Irvine, Northern Colorado and Sacred Heart. Arizona had one true road game against Missouri. The Wildcats also played five games in four neutral sites. They played Michigan State in the Armed Forces Classic at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii (later announced that game was moved to Stan Sheriff Center to accommodate more fans), Gonzaga in the first ever HoopHall LA event at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, Texas A&M at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and also played at Orleans Arena as part in the Las Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas, where they face off against three of the following: Butler, Santa Clara or Vanderbilt.
In the unbalanced 18-game Pac-12 schedule, the team will face neither the Rocky Mountain teams (Colorado/Utah) on the road, nor the Oregon teams (Oregon/Oregon State) at home.
Arizona's Red-Blue game took place on October 14, 2016 at McKale Center. The red team beat the Blue team, 53–49.
Ranking movement
*AP does not release post-NCAA tournament rankings