This past season Arizona made it back to the promised land, reaching the Final Four for the first the in 25 years. Next season it’s headed to the mecca of college basketball.
College hoops insider Jon Rothstein is reporting that the UA will face St. John’s at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 5. The game will be part of the Hall of Fame Series that Arizona regularly participates in.
The Wildcats and Red Storm have met twice before, splitting the matchups. St. John’s beat Arizona in San
Francisco during the 2019-20 season and the UA won in 2011-12 in the NIT Tip-Off tourney at MSG, home of the New York Knicks.
It will technically be a neutral site game but St. John’s, which has an on-campus arena, plays most of its high profile games at MSG which is also the home of the Big East Conference Tournament.
St. John’s is coming off its first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999, getting there via San Diego where it played on the same court as Arizona for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. The Red Storm are coached by Rick Pitino, the active Division I wins leader with more than 900.
Arizona now has at least seven nonconference games locked up for 2026-27. It opens the season Nov. 2 in Las Vegas against UCLA, will play three games in the Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving week and also has the back end of home-and-home series with UConn coming to McKale Center and the UA visiting Auburn.
Most of the remaining seven slots are likely to be buy games at McKale but Arizona is also expected to play a game in Phoenix for the fourth straight season. Per Rothstein, the Wildcats are set to face St. John’s in Phoenix during the 2027-28 season.
