August has been the month of hate maps. The Arizona Wildcats were the most hated college football team in Arizona, which makes sense. UA's rival, Arizona State, has a bigger alumni base. Obviously. The more fun bit in the college basketball hate map is how much Californians despise Sean Miller's hoops squad.
The Arizona basketball team isn't the most-hated hoops squad in the state. That makes sense because, well, ASU probably doesn't care as much about basketball as it does football (and likewise the football result shows Arizona fans care less about football than ASU probably does).
Sean Miller has been recruiting the crap out of California. To begin understanding the hate that goes outside the Cali border, here's the full list of Miller recruits from California.
- Justin Simon (2015)
- Stanley Johnson (2014)
- Parker Jackson-Cartwright (2014)
- Aaron Gordon (2013)
- Elliott Pitts (2013)
- Grant Jerrett (2012)
- Brandon Ashley (2012)
- Gabe York (2012)
- Angelo Chol (2011)
- Josiah Turner (2011)
- Jordin Mayes (2010)
- Derrick Williams (2009)
- Solomon Hill (2009)
Out of 28 players that have committed to Arizona, including the verbally-committed 2015 class that includes Justin Simon, 13 have come from California. Nearly half of Miller's recruits come from the Golden State, which mirrors the UofA's general student population. Even with UCLA doing fine recruiting work under Ben Howland and now (UCLA fans might disagree) Steve Alford, there's enough talent to go around. Still Miller has always nabbed the best out of California.
As far as the fan bases go beyond the recruiting considerations, San Diego State and UCLA are the two powerhouses who might have a big say in which teams they hate the most, but Cal and Stanford have also probably grown a distaste for Arizona's teams in their more recent peaks.