If this was the Pac-5 the Wildcats would be in big trouble.

The stat has been repeated many times. Since the start of Pac-10 play Arizona is now 0-3 in the first game of the weekend and 3-0 in the second game. Can we schedule a quick game before taking on ASU this week? Is there a high school team available?

The rule for Pac-10 basketball fans has always been: Don’t judge the weekend until you’ve played both games. There’s no sense in going crazy about a Thursday loss when there’s still a game on Saturday. This is especially true when you have a team for which any weekend split is a good thing.

With the Oregon State defeat the last-second-shot book is now balanced for the 2010 Cats. Two for the good guys, two for the other guys. Live by the buzzer-beater, die by the buzzer-beater.

While I’m happy with the road split it’s still frustrating that a very valuable sweep was there for the taking. The UA had a double-digit second-half lead in both games but could only hold on to one of them thanks to an offensive drought in Corvallis. We’re used to dreaming of the Final Four. Now we’re going scoreless in the final four (minutes).

That added a bit of pressure for the Oregon game. Win and you’re tied for fourth. Lose and you’re alone in tenth. That’s life in the jumbled Pac-10. As it stands there are three teams each with two conference losses and the other seven teams have exactly three losses apiece. Ten-way tie or bust!

Right when Arizona was in danger of replacing UCLA in the cellar the Ducks reverted to their 2-16 form from last year. We are much obliged for your 33% shooting!

Oregon’s McArthur Court always looks like one of those high school courts that’s not quite regulation size. It was nice to see our guys walk out of that place for the last time with a win.

It was also good to see the red uniforms back. Don’t be a stranger, cardinal kit!

Wise’s behind-the-back split of the double-team drive and no-look pass to Williams was the highlight reel play of the night but it was the first behind-the-back split of the double-team that won the game. The lead had been trimmed to eight with just over two minutes left when Wise kicked it out to Fogg for the dagger three.

I wouldn’t recommend behind-the-backing against good defensive teams but a guy who has that in his bag of tricks needs a flashier name. Niq Wise is back.

Baseball has bad-ball hitters. Jamelle Horne is a bad-ball shooter. The less in rhythm he seems the better the chances of the ball going in. Maybe he should shoot free throws on one foot.

It’s great to watch Kyle Fogg’s confidence soaring. He’s aggressive going to the basket, he’s not afraid to launch it from deep and you can count on him to finish games at the free throw line (12-for-12 is pretty good).

At the other end of the non-freshman esteem spectrum is Brendon Lavender. To say he isn’t looking for his shot is an understatement. I don’t even think he knows it’s missing. “What? Score points? No thanks, I’m good.” I hope Brendon finds the trigger again soon because he’s not going to be out there much longer if he’s a zero threat on the offensive end.

I am a big fan of Derrick Williams’ post-dunk surfer pose. Hang (on the) ten (foot rim), brah!

I also love when DW draws yet another foul on the road and the entire crowd groans. Get used to it, people.

I am not a fan of turnovers. You have to feel pretty lucky to win a game in which you turn it over 18 times. The Cats had gotten the giveaway number down to 11 against UCLA, 10 vs. WSU and 12 against UW, but it was a 16-per-game turnover frenzy on the Oregon Trail.

I am conflicted about Jerryd Bayless. I’m still not sure how I feel about our first one-and-done, but if he keeps showing up at games to support the school where he hung out for a couple semesters I’m willing to give him the chance to grow on me.

I am a huge fan of college rivalries. That’s right, it’s ASU Week. They’ve beaten us five straight times. They’ve won their last four games by a combined 70 points. They’re preparing for their only home sellout of the year. It’s not looking good for the boys from Tucson.

The whole state knows the Devils are going to pack it in with their zone and dare the Cats to beat them from the outside. Fogg (48% for the season on threes), Horne (44%) and Wise (37%) are all going to have to be hot from deep. We then need ASU’s four guys who shoot it at 39%+ to all run cold. Piece of cake, right?

This will be Sean Miller’s first game against the Orangish-Yellow and Almost-Brown. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. How important is it to win your first rivalry game? Mike Stoops did it…and proceeded to lose his next three.

But, hey, ASU is alone in first place as we approach the halfway mark of the conference season. This is a chance to “knock them out of the Rose Bowl,” hardwood style.

That’s the kind of sweep I like best.

What might have been.

Those four words may sum up Arizona Football better than any other. We got hit with another dose as superstar tight end Rob Gronkowski decided to enter the NFL draft with two years of college eligibility remaining.

The fact that he left early isn’t a surprise. From the first time you saw him drag a defensive back 12 yards you knew this press conference was coming. There was no way GRONK! was going to play four years of college bowl.

We just wish it was more than a year and a half.

Rob Gronkowski only caught passes in 20 games at Arizona. If you take his per-game averages and project them over a three year career (36 regular season games and two bowls) you get 142 catches, 2274 yards and 30 touchdowns. That receiving touchdown total would tie the UA school record and be more than Dennis Northcutt, Bobby Wade or Mike Thomas. All from a 265-pound tank in shoulder pads.

He caught 12 passes against Oregon in 2008. Would he have helped put the Ducks away in 2009?

He scored 12 touchdowns in 11 career home games. What would he have done in 2010 with a veteran offense and a favorable schedule?

Arizona went 10-2 when he caught at least three passes. What’s the record look like if he plays 13 straight?

We’ll never know. GRONK! has become GRON…

Incredible but incomplete.

It doesn’t do any good to be bitter at Big Rob. My gut says he’s going to be disappointed with his draft position but I hope he blows up the combine and storms into the first round. A great way to attract NFL talent is to put guys in the NFL and have them become stars.

So what do the Wildcats do now? The quick answer is the same as this year since #48 didn’t play a down, but if you look at the passing numbers over the second half of the season you know that isn’t good enough.

There are two options. You either try to develop tight end AJ Simmons as a legit threat or you go exclusively to four wide receiver sets.

If the Cats do go small we need somebody willing to run over the middle and catch tough passes in traffic. If the safeties and linebackers aren’t occupied in the center of the field we aren’t going to find any room on the perimeter.

Even with a down-the-middle threat the guys on the outside need to figure out how to beat press coverage. Sharper routes? Crossing patterns? Back-shoulder fades like they run in the NFL? Whatever it is it has to be priority #1 this offseason. Nick Foles and the Wildcats will not see another seven-yard cushion until they start torching bump-and-run coverage.

An all-world tight end could have been the final piece on a legendary offense. But at least now the injury issue is resolved and the team can go into spring practice knowing exactly what it needs to do.

Fare thee well, Robert Gronkowski, and thanks for the memories. Twenty games weren’t enough but they sure were a great twenty games.

Goodbye, GRONK!

Can you stomach another week of Pac-10 basketball? Hey, at least Seattle U. isn’t on the schedule.

Thu. Jan. 14
ASU (12-5 / 2-2) at Oregon (10-5 / 2-1) – 6:30 p.m. (all times Arizona/Mountain)
The Sun Devils have just as many road wins as the handless Huskies.

ARIZONA (8-8 / 2-2) at OSU (7-8 / 1-2) – 8 p.m.
After a feel-good win against Washington, can the Cats find success on the road?

Cal (10-5 / 2-1) at WSU (12-4 / 2-2) – 8 p.m.
I can’t believe Klay Thompson didn’t get the ball on WSU’s final possession against Arizona. So of course the shot goes in.

Stanford (8-7 / 2-1) at Washington (10-5 / 1-3) – 8:30 p.m., FSN
The Huskies are even happier to be in Seattle than Pete Carroll.

Sat. Jan. 16
Cal at Washington – 12:30 p.m., FSN
This was supposed to be one half of the matchup of the year, back when the world made sense.

ARIZONA at Oregon – 2:30 p.m., FSN
Hey, NFL, could you quit scheduling the Cardinals’ playoff games at the same time as Arizona basketball? Thanks.

Stanford at WSU – 3 p.m.
Another Pac-10 team with zero road wins. That’s how you build a horrible conference.

ASU at OSU – 4:30 p.m., FSAZ/FSNW
No, I will not let the Seattle loss go. Here is the Redhawks’ recent schedule:

L vs. Oakland
L at Denver
L at LMU
L vs. Harvard
W at Oregon State
L at Sacramento State
L at Cal State Northridge

USC at UCLA – 5:30 p.m., Prime Ticket
A losing team! A banned team! It’s the battle for L.A. mediocrity!

I’m not big on power rankings because as the year goes on you can just look at the standings. But in an upside-down season like this it might be fun to try and pick the best pigs in this here county fair. Here’s how I think the Pac-10 stacks up based on the conference results so far:

1. Cal – I believe they’ll find a way to not-lose this thing when it’s all said and done.
2. Oregon – The two road wins outweigh the OSU loss.
3. ASU – Looked really good against the Washington schools.
4. UCLA – Beat both Cal and ASU so maybe they should be higher.
5. Stanford – Got it done at home against the Trojans and Bruins.
6. USC – The win over ASU looks even better now.
7. WSU – The head-to-head against the Cats moves them up a slot.
8. ARIZONA – Everybody beats Washington.
9. OSU – Starting league play with three road games isn’t easy.
10. Washington – The Huskies don’t even bother with close losses.

I fully expect next week’s list to look completely different. Soo-ey!

This is a great day for 90% of the Pac-10.

Pete Carroll is about to ruin his career.

I’ve never understood it. Why do people get tired of being great at something? Why do singers want to be actors and actors want to be singers?

Coaches always talk about wanting a new challenge. You know what’s a challenge? Winning nine Pac-10 games in one year. Winning thirteen straight college football games. Doing it again the following year.

In Carroll’s case people are going to point to the ongoing NCAA investigation. But it’s not like USC is going to get the death penalty. Even with few lost scholarships and some vacated wins Pete Carroll would still land all the top recruits. He would still win most of the Pac-10 titles and remain the king of L.A. football.

Is Bear Bryant considered a wuss because he never coached in the NFL? Why didn’t that John Wooden guy “move up” to the NBA? Becoming a legend is a challenge. Remaining a legend is an even bigger challenge.

The NFL is a completely different animal. Coaches rule in college. Players rule in the pros. Did Bill Belichick become a radically different coach in the time between his stint as a losing coach in Cleveland and his run to three Super Bowls in New England? No, he just went from Vinny Testaverde to Tom Brady.

Did Mike Ditka forget how to coach on his way from the Bears to the Saints? No, he just traded Walter Payton and Jim McMahon for Ricky Williams and two guys named Billy Joe.

In the NFL a superior coach can swing an individual game here or there. But if you’re going to win consistently you need the horses. And when it comes to horses, in college you’re the trainer. In the pros you’re just the jockey.

Carroll supporters will rally around the Jimmy Johnson model. Pete will be heavily involved in personnel decisions just like Jimmy. Paul Allen has more money than Jerry Jones. But the Jimmy Johnson Cowboys were the result of a perfect storm. The Seahawks don’t have Herschel Walker as trade bait. They don’t have the #1 pick in the draft with a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback sitting there. They aren’t building without a salary cap. A man named Moose isn’t involved.

As the head coach at USC you get Parade All-Americans to come backup other Parade All-Americans. In the NFL other teams trade in front of you in the draft or sign away your veterans in free agency.

It’s not a matter of if Pete Carroll will fail in the NFL. It’s a question of which college program will get the next Nick Saban in a few years.

So what does this mean for the Arizona Wildcats?

USC will get another good coach. But it’s not a guarantee they land an elite coach. And even if their next guy is another superstar there’s going to be a couple-year window before he gets up to ramming speed.

Can Mike Stoops and the Wildcats pounce? Can they steal a recruit or two from SC’s current class, a la Sean Miller? Can the UA get enough of a head start with future recruits that the next Kris O’Dowd or Everson Griffen stays in-state? Can we break through to the top of a Carroll-less Pac-10?

I’m not proud. Winning the Pac by beating a weakened USC would be no less sweet than toppling Pete Carroll at the height of his power. After we’ve banked a couple titles we can worry about style points.

I’m not ready to say Mike Stoops has to win the Pac-10 in the next two years or he’s a failure, but a major excuse has been removed. After missing out on opportunities in 2009 it sure would be nice to take advantage of this pleasant turn of events.

This is a great day for the Cats and the other eight teams who have been breathing USC’s exhaust for the past decade. I am grateful for whatever it was that finally pushed Carroll back into the NFL. Ego? Impending sanctions? Mountains of Microsoft money? I thank you all.

But most of all I thank you, Pete. Thanks for no longer being interested in dominating college football. I wish I could wish you a long and successful career but it’s hard to argue with history.

See you again soon.

The Arizona basketball team split a pair of Pac-10 home games and it counts as a good weekend.

Welcome to life as a rebuilding program.

Hold on, you say, the Cats lost at the buzzer. They easily could have won both games. Just wait; weekends are coming when you’re going to long for the good old days of beating Washington and only losing by two to Washington State. We just need to be patient and hope the progress meter keeps pointing up.

In the WSU game Arizona got a taste of its own buzzer-beating medicine. The individual highlight was Derrick Williams throwing down another vicious dunk (starting at the 3:15 mark here). They sometimes come out of nowhere. You’re just watching a simple drive to his left OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS.

But why was Williams back in there so early with four fouls? A guard can avoid contact but when you’re a big man in foul trouble the guy you’re guarding always goes right at you and the guy guarding you is ready to flop if you breathe on him. Sean Miller has shown he’s not afraid to stick guys out there with four fouls but I would make an exception for Arizona’s lone post presence.

The Wildcats’ second-best inside threat may be an unlikely candidate. I’ve been waiting to see what Kevin Parrom brings to the table and it turns out his strength is, well, his strength. Parrom has a decent-looking shot (he hit the three to bring us within one at the end of the WSU game) but it’s his toughness around the rim that stands out (seven boards against UW) and he’s exhibited a nice post game against guards. That officially makes a full lineup of UA freshmen with upside.

Speaking of the first-year guys I liked how MoMo Jones appeared to take the Abdul Gaddy thing personally. Gaddy, the ex-Cat recruit who was getting booed when he touched ball, hit a couple buckets when Jones took over the game in the second half. It was like he was telling the crowd, “Don’t worry, the guy you got is pretty good too.”

The change of the calendar has been good for the Arizona offense. After limping to the close of 2009 by averaging fewer than 60 points in two losses the Wildcats have averaged exactly 80 points in their last three games. The strategy appears to be having someone new post a career high in every game. Kyle Fogg lit up UCLA for 25 points and Jamelle Horne dropped 22 on Washington. Who gets to use the magic dust next?

(We interrupt this program to complain about eBay heartbreak. If it was one of you who out-bid me for the 1949 Salad Bowl ticket I’m going to be really upset.)

((No, seriously, how many tickets from the UA’s second bowl game am I going have a shot at in my lifetime? I should have waited longer to bid. I should have pledged my mortgage payment. Who needs a house when you have a 61-year-old ticket stub?))

(((This concludes today’s whining. We will now join our regularly-scheduled program, already in progress.)))

After two weekends of conference hoop action what do we know about the Pac-10? Well, the only winless team just went on the road and beat the only undefeated team. A ten-way tie for first is now a distinct possibility.

We’re looking at a historically bad year for the league. At this rate there will be zero at-large tournament bids from the Pac-10. Going into this week you thought Cal and Washington were locks but the Bears lost at home to 7-9 UCLA and the Huskies didn’t beat anybody. You can count UW’s road wins on one hand even if you don’t have any hands.

Does any of this change Arizona’s position? Not really. The NCAA tournament dream still hinges on peaking at the Pac-10 tournament.

But with a league this bad the Cats have a better chance at securing an overall winning record and taking aim at an NIT bid. Those three letters have been blasphemous around here the last 25 years but, again, this is life as a rebuilding program. Give it your all at Staples Center but any backup option that includes postseason games is a good thing.

To get there it’ll take a 10-8 conference record. That means the UA has to have more home wins than road losses. At 2-2 the Cats are a game off the pace, but if we can keep splitting each weekend and split against ASU that would put us at 14-14 / 8-8 heading into the final home games against UCLA and USC. That wouldn’t be a bad place for this young team to be.

The only certainty this Pac-10 season is uncertainty. There are no unwinnable games and no guaranteed wins. Yesterday’s 50-point loss to Seattle is today’s seven-point win at Oregon. Last week’s six-point loss to USC is this week’s 17-point win against U-Dub.

Happy rebuilding, everyone!