Given that it’s the beginning of college basketball season, not many of the top teams have compelling matchups to start the regular season. Every PAC-12 team is expected to win its opening game handily, except for Arizona. The tenth-ranked Wildcats open up their season against the twelfth-ranked Michigan State Spartans in the Armed Forces Classic. It is one of two matchups between top 25 teams on Friday, the only one involving a PAC-12 team. It’s a game that Arizona obviously has the ability to win, but a victory will not come easy for the shorthanded Wildcats.
Although Arizona and Michigan’s programs are drastically different from last season, both are looking to bounce back from disappointing losses in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament.