We are in!!!!!!!!!!

[Mr. Boldin]

Jay Bilas said we are the better team and you have no idea how the players feel about KO.

Yes he does and I dont even know him, but I have heard the same information he has.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

Congratulations on the bid. You deserved it.

The attitude that UCLA was given a gift is a little bit of regional arrogance, I think. A&M, UConn, WVU and Duke are not slouch teams. Of course UCLA should be favored. They earned the #1 seed.

Mao is right about UA. Brutal draw.

You know I couldn't disagree more. I don't like traveling cross country but WVU is a one man show and many experts who have closely followed both teams said on air today that Arizona winning would be no upset.

I guess it would be better to be a #7 or #8 seed (which hasn't helped in the recent past) to not be playing the #2 in the second game but i think Duke is waaaay overratted this year. Not very athletic and nothing inside. Now they might wear us down with depth but we have the talent to win that for sure. Duke and Georgetown are not as good as their seeding indicates (Tennessee and Texas conversely are really good #2's).

Your on house money coming back West to play a flawed Purdue or Xavier team. Then UCLA. Which would be a 30 point loss

Unlikely? yeah. Possible? Well ask yourself this - Is Bayless a good enough player to carry a team for 3-4 games? How about Budinger?

Maybe Mao is right and the guys are tuning KO out.
Or maybe Lute's system - while good for the regular season and showcasing players - is not as tournament tested as an O'neil coached team maybe.

Guess we will find out. If it makes anyone feel any better I talked myself into deep runs the last two years too

 

[Gee!]

Wasnt worried.. But then again I wasnt near a tv today so I didnt have anxioty with every selection announced..

 

[Mr. Boldin]

The attitude that UCLA was given a gift is a little bit of regional arrogance, I think. A&M, UConn, WVU and Duke are not slouch teams. Of course UCLA should be favored. They earned the #1 seed.

Im just basing it off who the other #1 seeds have in their region.

Carolina - Indiana (not long ago they were in first), ND, Wazzu, Louisville, and one of the top #2s in Tenn

Memphis - Oregon (either on or off), MSU, Pitt, Stanford, Texas

Obviously no region is going to be a cakewalk, but the only team I can see giving UCLA problems is UConn. Duke does not match up with UCLA at all and I think Westbrook and Collison will give the Duke guards fits and take them out of their game.

 

[Lefty]

Tough draw or not, I am just so glad we are in the Big Dance again. I don't think I would of even watched the Cats if they played in the NIT.

 

[Lefty]

Cats are a 2-point underdog.
http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/odds/las-vegas/

 

[Renz]

NCAA Snub Adds to UA-ASU Rivalry
Corky Simpson
GOAZCATS.com Columnist

A bitter rivalry just got more hostile.

Imagine the righteous wrath in Tempe over Arizona's 24th consecutive selection to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament...

Arizona's rivalry with Arizona State just got more heated.
While Arizona State was left out -- despite the Sun Devils' sweep of the Wildcats this season!

The last time the teams played at Wells Fargo Arena up there in the Valley of The Smog, ASU won the game and fans stormed the court.

Their next game in Tempe may require Governor Napolitano to call out the National Guard.

Arizona State finished with a better record (19-12) and a better Pacific-10 Conference mark than Arizona (19-14, 8-10).

But the Sun Devil schedule was diluted with match-ups such as Cal Poly, Florida Gulf Coast, Delaware State, Montana State and Idaho.

Meanwhile, the Wildcat faced the likes of Kansas, Memphis, Texas A&M, Virginia, Illinois and UNLV.

So Arizona's strength of schedule and RPI were among the nation's toughest and ASU's among the weakest.

UA played four games (including the one at Arizona State) without its best player, freshman guard Jerryd Bayless from Phoenix. The Cats played several games without point-guard Nic Wise and power forward Bret Brielmaier.

And, of course, Arizona played the entire season without Coach Lute Olson. He took a leave of absence that lasted the entire season. During that time, Lute filed for divorce from his wife Christine and took care of an as yet unannounced medical problem. He was replaced by Kevin O'Neill, who had been brought in to teach defense and toughen up the Cats.

O'Neill was an assistant on Lute's staff from 1986-89, before becoming head coach at Marquette, Tennessee and Northwestern and then coaching several years in the NBA.

The NCAA Selection Committee saw in Arizona a team that suffered through the loss of its coach for a year (Lute says he'll be back next season; it's unclear whether O'Neill will or not), serious injuries and fought through one of the toughest -- if not the toughest -- schedule in the country.

And won 19 games.

Arizona State's regular season ended in a controversial call at the Pac-10 Tournament in Los Angeles, when Jeff Pendergraph's dunk with 16 seconds left would have tied the game at 57. Instead, he was called for an offensive foul, Southern Cal made two free throws and won the game, 59-55.

Then came the somewhat controversial snub by the NCAA Selection Committee. Herb Sendek, the Sun Devil coach, said, "It's a very disappointing moment for us. We were anxious all weekend following our game against USC.

"At this point, the coaches and the players hurt a great deal. There's no getting around that."

Sendek is a man known for his class, but ASU fans are not.

Arizona, a team they hate more than any other -- a team the Devils beat twice this season -- will play West Virginia Thursday in the first round of the NCAA West Regional in Washington, D. C. The Wildcats are seeded No. 10.

ASU is a No. 1 seed -- but it's in the NIT, and the Devils will face Alabama State, a No. 8 seed in the lesser of the two tournaments.

Losing to USC was painful to the Devils and their fans, but the final blow had to be watching the Selection Sunday Show and seeing the Wildcats chosen for the NCAAs.

When the Cats are in town, Tempe fans are famous for raining down boos. Next time, it may be booze -- in the bottle or barrel.

Watch out!

Simpson worked for The Tucson Citizen from 1974-1997, and spent the past 17 years as the newspaper's sports columnist. Previous to his work at The Citizen, Simpson was a photo editor and assistant city editor at The Phoenix Gazette.

In 1988, Simpson was named national sportswriter of the year by The Associated Press. In 2003, he was the first elected member of the Arizona Associated Press Sports Editors' Hall of Fame.

 

[Gee!]

The inevitable meltdown around town this week will be quite amusing. I'll be sure to wear my UA gear for the next few days to rub some salt in the wounds.

I like this idea, so I'll surely do my part as well.

Yesterday was great.. I didnt wear any Cats gear but walked into my office and said "I know you guys are excited for March Madness, right!" Only to have half sad, half pissed faces looking back at me after saying that.. It was great.. Then the inevidible happened.. The constant "But we swept you!" To which I would reply "24 baby!" which only pissed em off even more ..

Great day In Wildcats country..

 

[Chaplin]

NOBODY is giving UofA a chance in this game. Almost every analyst I've seen even counts West Virginia as a sleeper in the whole tournament. WVU might be a "one man show", but the Cats will need to bring their A game against them.

 

[Mr. Boldin]

NOBODY is giving UofA a chance in this game. Almost every analyst I've seen even counts West Virginia as a sleeper in the whole tournament. WVU might be a "one man show", but the Cats will need to bring their A game against them.

Ive seen Lunardi, Katz, Digger, and others picking UA to beat WVU and some to beat Duke. Underdog on the spread or not, it isnt an upset if we win and we are getting more respect than we deserve IMO.

Also, this is one of the best draws UA could have hoped for. We match up with WVU and Duke, not to mention everyone else on the bottom of this bracket. Win two games and we are sent to Phoenix, cant complain about any match ups in our bracket at all.

 

[Chaplin]

Wow, Lunardi has Arizona losing in the Elite Eight to UCLA, meaning he thinks we'll beat WVU and Duke. Crazy.

 

[Skkorpion]

Wow, Lunardi has Arizona losing in the Elite Eight to UCLA, meaning he thinks we'll beat WVU and Duke. Crazy.

Yes, I agree. It's insane. WVU is beatable by UA, maybe. Depends on which Budinger shows up.

Duke is beatable too but not by UA.

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Duke is VERY flawed, they have no frontcourt. Their two bigs are Singler and Lance Thomas both of whom are about the size of Kobe Bryant. Of course all Arizona has in that department is Jordan Hill and he doesn't have the hoops IQ and coaching to take advantage.

 

[NightHawk11and81]

I doubt you even see Duke. West Virginia should win fairly comfortably.

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

You know I couldn't disagree more. I don't like traveling cross country but WVU is a one man show and many experts who have closely followed both teams said on air today that Arizona winning would be no upset.

So much for that theory!

 

[Gee!]

So much for that theory!

Give it time.. The Moutaineer fans will be whining in grand fashion again.. Soon enuff..

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Arizona gave up weeks ago. No different tonight even with the "defensive mastermind" Kevin O'Neill.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

So much for that theory!

I guess I am a Kool aid chugger at heart.

I am a Cardinal fan after all. Somethings gotta keep you going

 

[Dback Jon]

Arizona gave up weeks ago. No different tonight even with the "defensive mastermind" Kevin O'Neill.

But I thought it would be all different with a full/healthy team.

Now you are saying that Arizona didn't even deserve to be there....

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

But I thought it would be all different with a full/healthy team.

Now you are saying that Arizona didn't even deserve to be there....

Please reference earlier where I said "UA will not do much this weekend."

UA deserved to be there under the guidelines the NCAA selects it's teams but getting there and doing something once you do are two entirely completely animals. And saying UA does not deserve to go completely takes ASU off the bubble into the no chance in hell do they make it territory.

And by the way, how are the Illini doing? 5-13 in conference and gardyating it's leading scorer and rebounder. Nice job Weber.

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

Give it time.. The Moutaineer fans will be whining in grand fashion again.. Soon enuff..

I think they can beat Duke, but it will be tough. If the game is close in the final minutes, Duke will startinggetting their phantom calls. We will see.

Oh, yes I will be on here whining if they lose!

 

[LVCARDFREAK]

Arizona gave up weeks ago. No different tonight even with the "defensive mastermind" Kevin O'Neill.

Eh, I thought they showed a lot of heart. If anything, they lacked talent after the starting 5 and had no depth.

Many times WVU extended the lead to 8-9 points and Arizona would come fighting back. I would say they didnt give up at all.

 

[Dback Jon]

And by the way, how are the Illini doing? 5-13 in conference and gardyating it's leading scorer and rebounder. Nice job Weber.

Gardyating? Hell of an education they give down there in Tucson - I'd ask for my money back...

 

[MaoTosiFanClub]

Gardyating? Hell of an education they give down there in Tucson - I'd ask for my money back...

Even you Tier IV's should realize I made a typo.

 

[Dback Jon]

Even you Tier IV's should realize I made a typo.

One hell of a typo - not even close.

And I will take my superior NAU undergraduate education any day over the "Don't give a damn about undergrads, just grad schools/research" diploma mills in Tucson and Tempe.