Arizona soccer finished eighth in the always-elite Pac-12 last season. The Big 12 coaches think they’ll be worse in their new league this year, placing the Wildcats in a tie with Utah for 10th in its first conference preseason poll.
The Wildcats will face a lot of new challenges this year, especially since they don’t play former Pac-12 opponent Colorado. They also don’t play Texas Tech or Iowa State, the two Big 12 teams they’ve had on their schedule most often in recent years. The only teams on the schedule that UA is familiar with are Arizona State and Utah. However, they are playing in a league that is much weaker as a group than the one they come from.
The Big 12 placed six teams in the RPI top 100 last season. One of those was Texas, which is no longer in the league. That leaves five returning teams that were among the 100 best teams in the country in 2023. At No. 69, Arizona finished behind four of them—19 places behind No. 50 TCU and well ahead of No. 95 Oklahoma State.
The Big 12 poll placed both Arizona State and Colorado above the Wildcats, which was in line with last year’s RPI. The Sun Devils finished ranked 52nd and the Buffaloes at 60. However, Utah finished at No. 104 yet landed in a tie with UA in the poll. The Utes were one of only three Pac-12 teams that finished outside the top 100 of the RPI last season.
The Big 12 coaches placed not only Oklahoma State ahead of Arizona but also dropped West Virginia and Baylor in front of the Wildcats. The Mountaineers were No. 135 in RPI when 2023 ended. The Bears were ranked No. 107.
BYU was picked to win the league. The Cougars finished No. 2 in last year’s RPI. Texas Tech (No. 11) and TCU (No. 50) also received first-place votes.
Arizona defeated UNLV 2-1 on Wednesday, Aug. 7 in its only open exhibition this season. Senior Gianna Christiansen and freshman Kennedy Fletcher scored the Wildcats’ goals.
Lead photo: Gianna Christiansen (2), Sami Baytosh (14), and Rose Calkins (30) at UNLV on Aug. 7, 2024. Courtesy of Arizona Athletics.
