When Was the Last Time Arizona Won the NCAA Tournament?

The Arizona Wildcats have a long history of making it to the NCAA Tournament without actually finding much success. The Wildcats have made 36 official appearances in the NCAA tournament along with two others that were vacated by the NCAA. 

This season is the first since 2018 that the Wildcats are appearing in March and the sixth time they have earned a No. 1 seed. 

After eking out an 85-80 win over the TCU Horned Frogs in the second round, the Wildcats find themselves in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2017. 

When Was the Wildcats’ Last National Championship

Arizona may have made nearly 40 appearances in the NCAA Tournament but they’ve only hit pay dirt once. In 1997, as a four-seed, the Wildcats ran the table and ended up beating fellow No. 1 seed Kentucky in an overtime thriller. 

The Wildcats followed this up with another trip to the National Championship Game in 2001 as a No. 2 seed. This time around the Wildcats weren’t as lucky and fell to top-seeded Duke 82-72. Since that season, the Wildcats have made it to the Elite Eight five times and are on the path to making this number six. 

Arizona’s Odds to Win National Championship

The Arizona Wildcats are currently the second favorite to win the National Championship at WynnBET Sportsbook at +400. Gonzaga is the only team with better odds at +225. 

Up next they have a tough game against the No. 5 seeded Houston Cougars in the Sweet 16 to get past. And while the Cougars have one of the best defenses in the country, Arizona’s offense is nearly unstoppable. They rank third in offensive scoring, third in average score margin, first in assists per game, and third in rebounds per game. There is not really an area on offense that they don’t dominate. Their defense isn’t that bad either and ranks 127th in scoring. 

Check out our game preview for Arizona vs. Houston here!

The oddsmakers think their offense has the edge in this matchup and have the Wildcats listed as two-point favorites against the Cougars. If the Wildcats manage to win, they advance to the Elite Eight to face off against the winner of the Michigan vs Villanova game. 

Get the latest Sweet 16 odds, picks and breakdowns of all the March Madness action onBetSided's "Bet & Breakfast" podcast!