Weekly conference pairings announced for Arizona men’s basketball’s final Pac-12 season

With Arizona moving to the Big 12 Conference next year, there’s one last chance to pick up another Pac-12 regular-season title to go with the 17 the Wildcats have claimed since joining the league in 1978. And now we know roughly the path they’ll have to take to make that happen.

The Pac-12 has released weekly opponent matchups for the league’s final go-around, a 20-game schedule that will be played entirely after Christmas thanks to an extra week on the 2023-24 season calendar.

The UA will open Pac-12 play the week between Christmas and New Year’s by visiting the Bay Area schools, and wrap up league play the second week of March in Los Angeles. In between the Wildcats will play 10 of 16 games at McKale Center, starting with visits from the Mountain schools (Colorado and Utah) between Jan. 3-7.

The final visit to McKale from UCLA (and USC) will come between Jan. 17-21, a week after Arizona plays a single game at Washington State. Unlike the previous few seasons, where the 19^th and 20^th conference games against single opponents were played before Christmas, this time around they’re woven into the final 11 weeks of the regular season.

The UA’s other one-off league game, at home against Oregon, will serve as its home finale some time between Feb. 28-March 3. That same week it will visit ASU, while the Sun Devils’ trip to McKale is on tap between Feb. 14-18.

Final dates, times and TV info for all Pac-12 games will come at a later date.

Here’s how Arizona’s overall 2023-24 schedule looks, combined with the loaded nonconference slate:

2023-24 Arizona MBB schedule

Oct. 20 vs. Lewis & Clark State (exhibition)

Nov. 6 vs. Morgan State

Nov. 10 at Duke

Nov. 13 or 14 at Southern

Nov. 17 vs. Belmont

Nov. 19 vs. UT-Arlington

Nov. 23 vs. Michigan State (Palm Springs)

Dec. 2 vs. Colgate

Dec. 9 vs. Wisconsin

Dec. 16 vs. Purdue (Indianapolis)

Dec. 20 vs. Alabama (Phoenix)

Dec. 23 vs. Florida Atlantic (Las Vegas)

Week of Dec. 27-31: at Cal/Stanford

Week of Jan. 3-7: vs. Colorado/Utah

Week of Jan. 10-14: at Washington State

Week of Jan. 17-21: vs. UCLA/USC

Week of Jan. 24-28: at Oregon/Oregon State

Week of Jan. 31-Feb. 4: vs. Cal/Stanford

Week of Feb. 7-11: at Colorado/Utah

Week of Feb. 14-18: vs. ASU

Week of Feb. 21-25: vs. Washington/Washington State

Week of Feb. 28-March 3: at ASU, vs. Oregon

Week of March 6-9: at UCLA/USC

March 12-15: Pac-12 Tournament, Las Vegas