Kyle Bonagura Apr 2, 2026, 07:30 AM ET

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Covers college football.

Joined ESPN in 2014.

Attended Washington State University.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- On the morning of the biggest game of his head coaching career, Tommy Lloyd woke up confused. It had been two days since his Arizona Wildcats dominated John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks in the Sweet 16. Now just one win from the program's first Final Four in 25 years, he had forgotten the game had even happened for a moment.

Perhaps groggy from the rigors of postseason travel -- Arizona had played seven games since its last home game on March 2 -- Lloyd needed to recalibrate.

"I thought: Are we in the Sweet 16 or the Elite Eight?" Lloyd said after the Wildcats beat the Purdue Boilermakers to advance to the Final Four.

Confidence can come from many places, and for Lloyd, this momentary lapse in awareness became an unlikely source.…