Analyst says Kansas basketball vs. Arizona will be must-see TV

An analyst from CBS Sports predicts that Kansas basketball vs. Arizona will become the next big college basketball rivalry with the Wildcats set to join the Big 12 in 2024.

Arizona and the Kansas Jayhawks have been at the top of their respective conferences in basketball for quite some time. While not many teams can maintain the level of dominance Bill Self has during his tenure as head coach, Arizona should immediately establish itself as one of the top basketball schools in the conference once they officially join the Big 12 in the 2024-25 athletic season.

The Wildcats departed from the Pac-12 along with rival schools Arizona State, Utah, and Colorado. Those three are much more renowned for their football prominence rather than basketball, but the same cannot be said about Arizona. Now that Tommy Lloyd has led his squad to consecutive seasons with a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament, Arizona’s basketball brand should continue to rise as they continue to escape gossip about the college basketball FBI probe.

Kansas basketball has played Arizona 12 times in school history, coming out victorious in eight of them. That number could continue to grow with the Wildcats now in the conference. AU and Big 12 newcomer Houston should consistently be scheduled with Kansas twice a year in what could be one of the nation’s most intense rivalries.

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CBS Sports posted an article discussing some of the biggest potential rivalries in the Big 12 for upcoming years. As you can guess, Kansas-Arizona was the top one on the list. This is what the writer said:

"“A Big 12 basketball matchup between Arizona and Kansas might be the most intriguing new conference game on the slate. Tommy Lloyd has helped bring back Arizona into the national spotlight and the move to arguably the strongest basketball conference in the country helps solidify the Wildcats’ footprint in the Midwest. Kansas won the national championship in 2021 and has been one of the most consistent programs during the last two decades under Bill Self. Moving to the Big 12 with Arizona allows the Wildcats to maintain its in-state rivalry with Arizona State but the program is also bound to create more new rivalries within the conference.”-Cameron Salerno"

While conference realignment can be hectic to follow, there is one thing for certain — it is spicing up the NCAA by creating new rivalries and traditions.

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