The Wildcats stack up well against the top basketball team in the country

It’s a sad time when college basketball is over, but it’s never too early to start talking about it again.

The Arizona Wildcats will lose four crucial players next year in Ryan Anderson, Gabe York, Kaleb Tarczewski, Mark Tollefsen, as well as have guard Justin Simon transferring. It might look like the Wildcats are in trouble, but they aren’t.

Sean Miller has done his best John Calipari impression by bringing in three five-star recruits giving them the third best recruiting class — only behind the powerhouses of Duke and Kentucky. The recruit trio of Terrance Ferguson, Rawle Alkins, and Kobi Simmons for Arizona all sit ranked in the top 20 of their class.

To me, Terrance Ferguson is one of the most — if not the most — intriguing player in his class. At 6’7” he has elite size for the shooting guard position and is an unbelievable athlete. Did I mention he’s considered the best shooter of his class? Arizona’s backcourt will be absolutely loaded with Ferguson, Simmons, and Allonzo Trier — who set the Arizona points per game record for a freshman (14.8 ppg) — returning for his sophomore season.

It’s hard to tell this early exactly what the starting lineup for Arizona will look like, but it seems like it will be some combination of the new freshman, Allonzo Trier, Ray Smith, and either Chance Comanche, Dusan Ristic, or Lauri Markkanen — a Finland native who committed to Arizona back in October and is also considered a five star recruit.

Duke, the most hated team in all of college basketball is atop the preseason rankings once again. Despite losing potential #1 overall pick Brandon Ingram, Duke won’t skip a beat next season. In addition to Duke star Grayson Allen returning for his junior season, Duke will add Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, and Frank Jackson who are ranked the number one, two, and eleventh player respectively in his class.

Not only will Duke be good, they’ll actually have a decent bench next year as well. With their starting point guard Derryck Thornton transferring it looks like their starting lineup will consist of the three new freshman as well as Grayson Allen and senior workhorse Amile Jefferson who is finally healthy. That means their bench will consist of sharpshooters Luke Kennard and Matt Jones who played starters minutes this year but will take a diminished role with the new freshman class coming in.

With Duke’s combination of experience, talent, and shooting ability it’s easy to see why they are considered the preseason #1, but that doesn’t equate to instant success. In the history of AP poll rankings the preseason #1 team has gone on to win the national championship 14 times (six of which were won by John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins). Currently, Duke has the top recruiting class in the country, and it might get even better. Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski is still in the process of recruiting #20 recruit Marques Bolden who has given them strong consideration and is presumed to make his decision any day now. Some of Bolden’s other offers include big schools like Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Alabama.

Now that we’ve examined both teams, let’s take a look at a potential matchup if Arizona did happen to meet top-seeded Duke in the NCAA Tournament. I really like Arizona this year compared to the last because they have more scoring threats from their backcourt and wing positions. In the NCAA Tournament, guard play is crucial, so it’s essential their guards play well, especially due to their lack of depth in the front court.

Duke on the other hand is a complete team. Their starting guards are both high-IQ players who can create their own shots, Jayson Tatum is one of the most versatile players in the country, and Harry Giles and Amile Jefferson will be relentless on the glass together.

As of now, it’s really difficult to find a weakness in this team, which is why people are talking about them rivaling the Duke team of 2015 with Jahlil Okafor, Justice Winslow, and Tyus Jones who went on to win the National Title that year. Duke is clearly the superior team as of now, but fortunately for the Arizona Wildcats, anything is possible in March — that’s why they call it madness.