The offseason is here for most Arizona sports, with the 2025-26 season in the books and the 2026-27 seasons still a few months away.
What better time than now to press pause and check the pulse of each Wildcat program?
Over the next few weeks we’ll take a look at each of the UA’s men’s and women’s athletic programs to see what shape they’re in, as well as the prospects for the near future. We’ll break down each team and evaluate how it has performed under the current coaching staff, comparing it to how it looked
beforehand, and assess how it fits into the Big 12 Conference.
Next up: Men’s golf under Jim Anderson
How it looked before
Under Rick LaRose, Arizona was a perennial participant in the NCAA championships and won it all in 1992. He retired in 2012 after 34 seasons, missing nationals in three of his final five years, and was replaced by an up and coming assistant from Texas A&M.
Anderson, who had won a national award for top assistant coach in his sport prior to coming to Tucson, inherited a program that was on the downswing and it stayed that way for a while. His first seven seasons saw the Wildcats fail to make nationals once, missing NCAA regionals four straight years and never finishing better than 8th in the Pac-12.
A corner was turned in 2020-21 when the UA won the conference title, then a year later won its regional and returned to the NCAA championships for the first time in 11 years. That was the first of four nationals appearances in six seasons.
Taking Stock 2026
The offseason provides a great opportunity to evaluate each of Arizona’s athletic programs under its current leadership. Check back each day for another sport breakdown.
Sunday, May 31: Football
Monday, June 1: Volleyball
Tuesday, June 2: Soccer
Wednesday, June 3: Triathlon
Thursday, June 4: Cross country
Friday, June 5: Men’s and women’s swimming
Saturday, June 6: Men’s basketball
Sunday, June 7: Women’s basketball
Monday, June 8: Gymnastics
Tuesday, June 9: Beach volleyball
Wednesday, June 10: Women’s golf
Thursday, June 11: Women’s tennis
Friday, June 12: Men’s tennis
Saturday, June 13: Baseball
Sunday, June 14: Men’s golf
Monday, June 15: Softball
Tuesday, June 16: Men’s and women’s track and field
Where things stand now
Arizona just completed its best season in more than 20 years, reaching the match play portion of the NCAA championships for the first time. The Wildcats rallied to beat Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals before losing to UCLA in the semifinals, this after dominating the Marana Regional (which it hosted) and taking second in the Big 12 Tournament.
Outgoing seniors Filip Jakubcik and Zach Pollo provided the best 1-2 punch the UA has had since the early 2000s, with the former contending for an NCAA individual title.
Anderson, who was given a contract extension this time a year ago through 2026-27, stands to get another deal in the near future.
Life in the Big 12
The Big 12 is home to the two schools with the most NCAA men’s golf national titles in Houston (16) and Oklahoma State (12), though the former hasn’t won one in more than 40 years. The latter claimed its most recent championship in 2025, and Arizona hung right with the Cowboys this season.
The UA was second to OSU in the Big 12 Tournament, then it crushed the Cowboys in regionals and advanced further at nationals.
Men’s golf is one of the few sports, outside of football, basketball and women’s volleyball, that every school in the Big 12 participates in.
One big question
Can the big two be replaced? Jakubcik and Pollo both got to nationals twice, but now their college careers are over and the professional ones are about to begin. Those are two big sets of clubs to pass on, and while the Wildcats are set to return six golfers including nationals participants Tianyi Xiong, Taishi Moto and William Wistrand it will need to reload a bit.
Anderson signed three prep prospects in November, adding in-state golfers Hogan O’Malley and Joseph Nelson and Irish product Adam Fahey.
