From Lute Olson versus Jim Harrick to Sean Miller versus Steve Alford, the rivalry between Arizona and UCLA has seen great moments, legendary coaching rivalries, making it one of the top rivalries in all of college basketball.

Now, coach Tommy Lloyd will begin his chapter in the rivalry when his No. 3 Arizona squad faces Mike Cronin and No. 7 UCLA in a top-10 showdown Tuesday night at 9 p.m. (MST) on ESPN from Pauley Pavilion.

During his three years at UCLA, Cronin has become very familiar with the rivalry and knows its importance for both programs and the Pac-12 conference. During that time, he has gone 4-0 against the Wildcats.

"I would have liked to play them on a Saturday and had College GameDay in Westwood, if you're really asking me when I'd have liked to be done it. But if the Pac-12 would have asked me my opinion in the summer, which they're not going to, and I don't blame them, by the way, they shouldn't be asking any coach, but I'd have given them my opinion of how good Arizona was going to be. When they got the transfers, had everybody back, hired a good coach, there was no doubt that they were going to have a top team in the country," said Cronin on Arizona.

"So, I would've put in to have the game on a Saturday and try to have College GameDay. Cause I'm sure, you know both games were scheduled for Thursdays. Am I correct on that? Yeah. I would've liked to have them on a Saturday where we could've had the game on GameDay."

But this game has more than coaches as the storyline; in fact, the marquee matchup will be watching the top-two candidates for Pac-12 Player of the Year go head-to-head in guards Benn Mathurin and Johnny Juzang.

The two players have been the go-to guys on their teams; whenever Lloyd or Cronin need a bucket in critical situations, Mathurin and Juzang are the two that get the job done.

"Obviously, UCLA is a pretty good team. So, we're pretty excited to play them. Our game got postponed so we're really excited to play against UCLA," said Mathurin on the opportunity to play the Bruins.

In two career games against the Bruins, Mathurin has averaged five points a game and has only taken 10 shots combined against UCLA.

Mathurin wasn't the featured player on the team during his freshman season and still ended the year averaging 10.8 points per game and shot 47% from the field.

Under Lloyd, Mathurin has taken his game to another leave by leading the team in scoring at 17.5 and shooting 49% from the field.

Now, Mathurin might be facing his toughest matchup of the season against UCLA in a battle that might decide the conference regular-season champion.

"I mean, they got some pretty good players. They got a good plays too but, I just feel like we'll come up with a plan and if we stick to the plan, everything will be fine for us," said Mathurin during the teams weekly press conference.

With a rivalry like Arizona-UCLA, no one truly knows what will be in store during Tuesday night's top-10 showdown, but, one thing is certain, the landscape of the Pac-12 will look vastly different once the dust settles.