Weekend pairings announced for Arizona men’s basketball’s Pac-12 schedule

Piece by piece, bit by bit, Arizona’s 2022-23 schedule is coming together. Before you know it we’ll have the full, complete slate.

For now, though, enjoy each amuse bouche as the waiter comes by with it.

The Pac-12 has announced the weekend pairings for the conference slate, and for the first time since 2014 the Wildcats will finish the regular season with consecutive road games. They’ll also open the meat of the Pac-12 schedule on the road, visiting ASU some time between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2.

The UA is scheduled to open on the road for the third season in a row over New Year’s weekend, and for the fifth time in the last 12 seasons its opener will be against the Sun Devils.

Arizona’s final weekend of Pac-12 play (March 1-4) will be at the Los Angeles schools, where it hasn’t finished the regular season since 1998.

Pac-12

Because it opens at ASU, the UA won’t have a 3-game conference road swing at any point in the schedule, joining Utah as the only Pac-12 schools without that kind of trip in league play. The last time Arizona didn’t play three straight against conference opponents was 2016-17, compared to last season when (because of COVID-related reschedulings) it had a trio of 3-game road trips.

The Wildcats will have a 3-game homestand against Pac-12 foes, their final ones of the season, hosting the Mountain schools (March 15-19) before their home finale against ASU between Feb. 22-26. Other than in 2020-21, when COVID completely altered the schedule, the last time Arizona didn’t play a home game in March was 2017.

This is how Arizona’s 2022-23 schedule looks as of now. The final slate is expected to be released some time this month:

• Nov. 7 vs. Nicholls
• Nov. 11 vs. Southern
• Nov. 14 vs. TBD
• Nov. 17 vs. Utah Tech
• Nov. 21-13 at Maui Invitational
• Dec. 1 at Utah*
• Dec. 4 vs. Cal*
• Dec. 10 vs. Indiana (Las Vegas)
• Dec. 13 vs. TBD
• Dec. 17 vs. Tennessee
• Dec. 20 vs. TBD
• Dec. 29-Jan. 2 at ASU
• Jan. 4-8 vs. Washington/WSU
• Jan. 11-15 at Oregon/OSU
• Jan. 18-22 vs. UCLA/USC
• Jan. 25-29 at Washington/WSU
• Feb. 1-5 vs. Oregon/OSU
• Feb. 8-12 at Cal/Stanford
• Feb. 15-19 vs. Colorado/Utah
• Feb. 22-26 vs. ASU
• March 1-4 at UCLA/USC
• March 8-11 Pac-12 Tournament (Las Vegas)