The Wildcats will try to regroup against some angry Buffaloes.
Photo by Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

There’s a three-way tie atop the Pac-12 basketball standings plus a fourth team hanging around. Who has the advantage the rest of the way?

This Week in the Pac-12 (TWit-Pac) breaks it all down. First, here is this week’s TV schedule (all times Arizona/Mountain):

A lot of games on ESPN2 this week but the Wildcats don’t have any of them. The Cats do avoid the 9 p.m. Mountain Time starts which I know the local and back-east fans appreciate. To the games:

Wed. Feb. 13

ASU (18-6 / 7-4) at Utah (10-13 / 2-9)
In four of the last five games ASU has had the opposite result as the UA. The Sun Devils beat UCLA and Cal while the Wildcats defeated Washington and Stanford.

OSU (12-12 / 2-9) at WSU (11-13 / 2-9)
The Beavers got the win against Utah (by 18 points no less) so now OSU is trying to move into 10th place. Baby steps.

Oregon (19-5 / 8-3) at Washington (13-11 / 5-6)
Dominic Arits remains doubtful for the Ducks. I don’t think any athlete has gotten more famous by being injured since Wally Pipp.

Thu. Feb. 14

UCLA (18-6 / 8-3) at Cal (14-9 / 6-5)
It’s fitting that the Bruins and Golden Bears start off the night on one of the biggest days for the teddy bear industry. Will Shabazz Muhammad learn to love his teammates?

ARIZONA (20-3 / 8-3) at Colorado (16-7 / 6-5)
Buff fans have had this game circled ever since the Shot Heard ‘Round the World That Did Not Count.

USC (11-13 / 6-5) at Stanford (15-9 / 6-5)
How does USC have a winning conference record? Bob Cantu has the Trojans on a three-game winning streak.

Sat. Feb. 16

UCLA at Stanford
Good Stanford has wins over Cal, Oregon and ASU. Bad Stanford lost at USC and to Washington at home.

Oregon at WSU
The Cougars don’t play Utah again so the battle to avoid last place might extend until the end of the season.

ASU at Colorado
The Buffaloes got a solid road sweep last week on the Oregon Trail. Now CU plays three straight at home.

OSU at Washington
The Husky tailspin is now six losses in seven games. Wildcat fans can be happy the one win was against ASU.

Sun. Feb. 17

ARIZONA at Utah
The Cats’ first Pac-12 Sunday game did not go well. I’m guessing the extra day of rest will be used to practice against a zone.

USC at Cal
Crabbe Cobbs! Crabbe Cobbs! Crabbe Cobbs!

* * *

Four weeks left in regular season with four teams still in contention for the Pac-12 championship. Here is each contender’s remaining schedule:

ARIZONA

Oregon

UCLA

ASU

It’s interesting that none of the four teams has more home games left than road games. Arizona has the advantage of being the only one of the four to finish at home.

As far as the timing of the games, none of the final four has to do a Wednesday/Sunday week. Arizona does not have a traditional Thursday/Saturday weekend left, however.

UCLA has the toughest remaining schedule. Five road games and then the only pair at home is against fellow contenders.

Oregon still has the easiest schedule but it’s not as simple as it previously looked. Both Cal and Stanford have proven themselves to be feisty on the road.

Winning at home and splitting on the road is still the formula for success. Arizona’s games with its two weakest opponents are both on the road so I don’t anticipate any easy victories. Words like “grind,” “excruciating” and “mychesthurts” will remain very familiar to Wildcat Universe.

Ain’t it fun?

- – - – -

Scott Terrell doesn’t want to watch any other team. Join the support group on Twitter and Facebook.

This is not how undefeated usually looks.
Photo by Casey Sapio-USA TODAY Sports

Are you tired of winning yet?

Last season was a transition year for Arizona Wildcats basketball. There were low expectations, plenty of losses and limited stress.

This year’s UA team is 14-0, No. 3 in the nation. And the fans might not make it to MLK Day.

The Cats’ first two Pac-12 games both went down to the wire but with two different brands of tension. The Colorado game was “Going to lose … going to lose … going to lose … WAIT … WIN!”

Saturday against Utah was “Going to win … going to win … wait … WAIT?! … exhale …. WIN.”

Throw in the San Diego State, Florida and Southern Miss games and Wilbur the Wildcat’s going to have a lot less hair than he did when the season started. This definitely isn’t the 1988 team starting 12-0 by an average score of 87-65.

To say Arizona is living on borrowed time is an understatement. The Cats have taken out time loans to pay off their other time loans.

No, the undefeated run isn’t going to last long. With a trip down the Oregon Trail looming it would be a big upset if the “and O” portion of the UA’s record survives the weekend. Coming home with a road split would be a victory this week and, since the two games after that are at 2-0 ASU and versus 2-0 UCLA, the Cats need to plug some leaks to keep from losing any (if not all) of the next four.

There are two goals right now and they don’t necessarily go together. On the one hand you want to win as many games as you can, by any means necessary, to claim the Pac-12 championship and get as high an NCAA tournament seed as possible.

That’s why the Sabatin00.0 call was so big. The Wildcats needed to defend their home court against the mountain schools and, at the end of the nerve-racking day, they did.

But at the same time you want the players to learn lessons along the way. The team needs to be improving so it peaks in March. Is that happening? That’s where all the question marks lie.

It’s certainly too soon to panic (as much as fans of the No. 3 team can panic) because this isn’t a finished product. If you look at where this year’s top seven players were last season, four weren’t here, one was playing out of position and one was shot.

This is very much a work in progress.

If the team is still shooting 36% in a home game in late February it’s time to be concerned. If Arizona remains stuck in the 60s (the UA has scored fewer than 70 points in six of its last nine games), panic away.

Will it take a couple losses for this team to truly learn what a good shot looks like? Is the sting of some L’s needed to get guys to defend the 3-point line like the season depends on it?

The odds are that first sting will happen very soon. Then we’ll find out how this group responds and we’ll start to see if this squad is going move toward reaching its lofty potential.

If we’ve learned one thing after 14 games it’s that people looking for a simple, calming college basketball team will have to go somewhere else. But if you want to watch games so intense you feel like you’re playing in them, the 2013 Wildcats are here to tantalize – and potentially traumatize – spectators and fans.

Wilbur may want to keep his hat on though.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell promises to appreciate the next blowout victory. Buckle up for the ride on Twitter and Facebook.

Nick Johnson and the Arizona Wildcats will try to hold onto their high ranking.
Photo by Marco Garcia-USA TODAY Sports

The start of the Pac-12 basketball conference season is here.

Teams will no longer be able to hide behind light schedules. Everybody has to leave the comforts of home. Familiarity will narrow the talent gaps and whoever emerges as league champion 18 games from now will have earned it.

The conference-favorite Arizona Wildcats take the next step in a season of great potential against the team that ended last year’s dream.

This Week in the Pac-12 (TWit-Pac) has your first hoops TV schedule (all times Arizona/Mountain):

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Who is exceeding expectations so far this year and who is already looking toward next year? Here are the Pac-12 teams in the order they were picked in the preseason media poll:

Arizona (12-0)
Where were they picked? 1
How’s that looking now? So far, so good.
The goal was to win the conference even before the Cats posted an undefeated non-conference record. Now the goal is to win the Pac and then some.

UCLA (10-3)
Where were they picked? 2
How’s that looking now? Better than a month ago.
The Bruins had that staggering loss to Cal Poly but they’ve won their last five including an impressive OT victory over top-10 Mizzou. Speaking of drastic changes, who would’ve thought two months ago that between L.A.’s two marquee college programs, USC football would be in worse shape than UCLA basketball?

Cal (8-4)
Where were they picked? 3
How’s that looking now? On the high side.
California cupcaked itself to a 6-0 start but has lost four of six since including an unflattering home loss to Harvard. In that game the Pac-12’s leading scorer, Allen Crabbe, scored 27 of Cal’s 62 points.

Stanford (9-4)
Where were they picked? 4
How’s that looking now? Don’t hold your breath.
The Cardinal is 8-1 against the little guys and 1-3 against teams from BCS leagues. The big-guy win (against Northwestern) does not make up for the little-guy loss (to Belmont).

Washington (8-5)
Where were they picked? 5
How’s that looking now? O-ver-ra-ted.
The Dawg Pack has lost its bite as the Huskies already have three home losses. It looks like a step back for the last year’s regular season champs.

Colorado (10-2)
Where were they picked? 6
How’s that looking now? Disrespectful.
The Buffaloes won the Pac-12 tournament in their first try last year and were victorious in the opening round of March Madness. They have a win over a decent Baylor team and they’ve played the fewest home games in the conference so they’ve been tested more than others. They don’t get to ease into the conference schedule though as they have the toughest game right out of the gate.

Oregon (11-2)
Where were they picked? 7
How’s that looking now? Lowish.
Oregon has played two road games – a strong win at UNLV and a bad loss at UTEP – but they’ve taken care of business at home (10-0). That could come into play in the conference race as the Ducks face Arizona next weekend in Eugene but don’t make a return trip to Tucson.

Oregon State (10-3)
Where were they picked? 8
How’s that looking now? Not too shabby.
The Beavers have shown they are scrappy enough to hang with Kansas (only lost by six in KC) but scrappy-minus-S enough to lose to a 4-8 Towson team at home.

USC (5-8)
Where were they picked? 9
How’s that looking now? Way too optimistic.
The Trojans have the only losing record in the Pac-12 and they haven’t looked good doing it, averaging a conference-worst 62.6 points per game.

Washington State (9-4)
Where were they picked? 10
How’s that looking now? Probably about right.
Like Stanford, Wazzu has built up wins against small-timers (9-1) while struggling against the power-conferences-plus-Gonzaga (0-3). They do have a Player of the Year candidate in senior big man Brock Motum who is averaging 19 and 7 from Down Under.

Arizona State (12-2 / 1-0)
Where were they picked? 11
How’s that looking now? Well, they’re not last.
The Devils won the first conference game Wednesday night so they aren’t the worst team in the league. Other than that all we know at this point is Herb Sendek still schedules like a mid-minor.

Utah (8-5 / 0-1)
Where were they picked? 12
How’s that looking now? Maybe one rung too low.
Utah only lost by one in overtime at ASU so there’s hope for 11th place yet.

* * *

Looking at the conference statistics Arizona doesn’t have a single player in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding or assists. Winning without superstars is the ultimate team ball.

Based on the RPI Colorado is the Cats’ toughest remaining home game. History tells us there will be challenges all throughout the conference season but the UA doesn’t have the luxury of any warm-up games. Arizona can’t afford a Honolulu (plus a week off) hangover.

Big game tonight. Because they’re all big games from here on out.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is excited about the return of old rivalries. Live the hoops on Twitter and Facebook.

Ka’Deem Carey may have to start paying property tax on the end zone.
Photo by Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

You know what helps ease the pain of giving up 66 points?

Gaining 366 yards.

Ka’Deem Carey absolutely bludgeoned the Arizona Football record book with his 366 rushing yards, 400 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns against Colorado. The sophomore from Tucson also claimed a couple Pac-12 records and even left his mark in the NCAA annals.

And, oh, by the way, the Wildcats won for the sixth time in 2012 to become eligible for a bowl game with two weeks to spare.

I don’t want to hear anybody saying it was “only Colorado.” Did you know Arizona had a 1-13 all-time record against the Buffs before Saturday? It had been 26 years since the UA beat this program. And you remember last year, right?

Carey’s career high coming into the game was 172 rushing yards against Washington. He more than doubled it against CU.

No, the quality of opponent does nothing to detract from this performance. Ka’Dream and his offensive line deserve full credit for making sure this game against Colorado is one we’ll never forget.

Read on for the updated NCAA, Pac-12 and Arizona record books!

* * *

Six wins! Six wins!

Don’t miss the opportunity to fully enjoy Arizona’s bowl eligibility. Last year wasn’t fun and you never know what the future holds. The Cats will be in the postseason for the fourth time in five years, the second-best stretch in school history behind the five bowls in six seasons from 1989-1994.

Yes, technically a 6-6 team could get left out but I agree with the projections that have room for nine Pac-12 bowl teams if ASU and Utah both get to six wins. Thanks, Big Ten Leaders (in Sanctions) division!

While it would be cool to see your team play in a bowl in a different part of the country you’ll really strain your fan base’s travel budget if you end up in a place like Shreveport or D.C., so it’s better to keep winning and ensure you play out west.

Speaking of winning, Rich Rodriguez now has the most victories by a first-year Arizona head coach since the school joined the Pac-10. With three games left, RichRod still has a shot at the all-time mark:

Most Wins by an Arizona Football Coach in His First Season

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* * *

Here are all the records and lists that had to be rewritten due to one Ka’Deem Carey:

NCAA – FBS RECORD

Most Rushing Yards, Game

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PAC-12 RECORDS

Most Rushing Yards, Game

.

Most Rushing Touchdowns, Game

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ARIZONA RECORDS

Most Rushing Yards, Game

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Most Rushing Yards, Season

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Most Rushing Touchdowns, Game

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Most Rushing Touchdowns, Season

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Most Rushing Touchdowns, Career

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Most All-Purpose Yards, Game

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Most All-Purpose Touchdowns, Game

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Most All-Purpose Touchdowns, Season

- – - – -

Scott Terrell has tabled the conversation. Set some records on Twitter and Facebook.

Taimi Tutogi and the Wildcats couldn’t escape 1-9 Colorado last year.
Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

The assumption has long been that the Oregon Ducks are going to win out and play for the national championship. Stanford and Oregon State are both looking forward to having their say in the Pac-12 North race, but they have to face each other first.

For the Arizona Wildcats, it doesn’t get more humbling than 66-10. This week’s mission is simple: Get win number six and punch a ticket to a bowl game.

This is the second of three Saturdays with all 12 Pac teams playing on same day. This Week in the Pac-12 (TWit-Pac) has your TV schedule (all times Arizona/Mountain):

That’s some strange scheduling. What are west coast fans supposed to do from 4 to 8:30? For Arizona homecoming revelers that may be prime time for a nap.

The drama is quickly draining out of the bowl bubble:

Eight of the 12 teams are officially in or out already and three of the remaining four have five wins with at least one “gimme” game left. It looks like only Utah will be going into its final game with bowl eligibility on the line.

The games are here:

Colorado (1-8 / 1-5) at ARIZONA (5-4 / 2-4)
The Buffaloes have given up at least 34 points in each conference game this year. They have scored no more than 17 in their last five, averaging 10.2 points in that span. Arizona has its problems but this is the type of opponent you want to face when working through problems.

ASU (5-4 / 3-3) at USC (6-3 / 4-3)
Three weeks ago these teams were both 5-1 and it looked like this game would decide who plays in the Pac-12 Championship Game. Five combined losses later it might decide who goes to the Sun Bowl.

OSU (7-1 / 5-1) at Stanford (7-2 / 5-1)
Even if both teams fail in their attempt to upset Oregon there’s still the chance for a BCS bid if the Ducks play for the national title. This is essentially a Rose Bowl elimination game.

Oregon (9-0 / 6-0) at Cal (3-7 / 2-5)
One last name-your-score tune-up for the Ducks before finishing with (presumably) three straight ranked teams.

Utah (4-5 / 2-4) at Washington (5-4 / 3-3)
The Huskies and Utes are both 4-1 at home. They are a combined 1-7 on the road. The home fans in the stands should be very excited, and those stands are in Seattle this week.

UCLA (7-2 / 4-2) at WSU (2-7 / 0-6)
Since the Bruins stumbled at Cal earlier in the year you might be tempted to predict an upset but the crew of the S.S. Wazzu appears to be abandoning ship.

* * *

Perhaps the lone highlight for Arizona against UCLA was running back Ka’Deem Carey hitting a couple milestones. His 54 rushing yards in L.A. gave the UA a thousand-yard rusher for the 13th time in school history.

Most Arizona Rushing Yards in a Season

The sophomore back also scored the Wildcats’ lone touchdown of the evening, Carey’s 13th rushing score of the season. This moved him up another rung on Arizona’s single-season chart:

Most Arizona Rushing Touchdowns in a Season

* * *

If you look at the season to date this should be a cakewalk for the Wildcats. Colorado has lost five straight and has only won once all season while Arizona is a win away from bowl eligibility with two victories against ranked teams in the bag.

But if you look at the Pac-12 standings the Buffaloes are just a game behind the UA. With an upset in Tucson the two squads would be tied.

And both defenses are equally bad.

And we don’t know what the UA offense can do without Matt Scott.

And Colorado won last year.

This year has been anything but predictable for the Cats. Before the season started I hoped for six wins. Here’s how I envisioned it in my head compared to what has actually happened:

Only four of the nine games so far have gone as expected based on last year’s results. So maybe it’s a good thing Colorado won last year.

It’s hard to ignore giving up 66 points but perhaps – like Washington and Utah – the 2012 Wildcats are just a horrible road team. All the more reason to be glad there are eight home games, and be really glad this game is at home.

The first quarter will be very important on Saturday. The ideal scenario for the Cats – no matter who is playing quarterback – is to get a couple scores early to give Colorado that here-we-go-again feeling.

For the UA defense the key is avoiding the big play. In the Buffaloes’ one win they beat Washington State for a 70-yard pass and an 84-yard run. Make Colorado try to execute long drives and be ready to pounce on the mistakes.

For We The People it’s an early wake-up call with another round of breakfast tailgating. It may literally rain on the homecoming parade but a win of any kind gets the Wildcats back in a bowl game.

I don’t need a cakewalk. Just get a win by any means necessary and homecoming can end with the start of postseason travel planning.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell wants to leave home for the holidays. Get your fix on win number six via Twitter and Facebook.

The stakes have been raised since the last Washington game.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

It wasn’t easy at home but the Arizona Wildcats took care of business against Colorado and Utah. Two wins were needed; two wins were recorded.

Next up is a trip to the state of Washington with first place on the line. These are the games you look forward to as a fan. Big stakes mean big fun.

And big anxiety.

The Colorado game was a solid bit of revenge making up for a close road loss earlier in the year. The Utah game was not that.

No, the win over the Utes wasn’t pretty. It didn’t even have a “nice personality.” Each of Sean Miller’s strong words was appropriate.

One sliver of beauty was the performance of the three UA freshmen who make up 43% of the player rotation. Nick Johnson had 18 points on Saturday, his most in a month, and he made 11-of-13 free throws (85%) over the weekend. Josiah Turner dished out a season-high seven assists against Utah. Angelo Chol had eight points and four blocked shots in the two games. These guys are getting better, rising to the challenge and making significant contributions.

As a result they get to spend another week playing as a contender and they now get to go toe-to-toe with another contender.

It’s why you come to play basketball at Arizona. Last year’s championship rookies can use that experience to prepare them for this week. This year’s new guys will be able to take whatever they learn from these next two games and use it the rest of their careers.

As part of that learning experience it’s good that the Washington State game comes first. Pac-12 weekends are a single war broken into two battles. Winning one only gets the job half done (as the Cats came oh-so-close to proving against Utah). You can’t tie Washington in the standings if you don’t first beat Wazzu.

In the same way it’s a taste of what preparing for an NCAA tournament weekend is like. Even if the bracket shows a matchup with the #1 seed in the next round, you can’t ignore the 6- or 8-seed right in front of you.

It’s counterintuitive but the WSU game is the most important one this week. Beating the Huskies would be great but beating the Cougars is crucial. Even sitting a game out of first place, two losses could put the UA right back on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble. When your team is razor thin you constantly live on the razor’s edge.

And that’s where the fan anxiety comes in. We The People have our hopes nice and high and we’ve opened ourselves up to getting our hearts broken the week of Valentine’s Day.

An entire spectrum of fan emotions is possible this week. The euphoria of winning both (Bay Area sweep part II!), the status quo of winning one (Ho-hum L.A. split!), or the terror of critical losses (90% of the Utah game!).

This is where it’s good to remember it’s much better to have a shot at something big and come up short than to be irrelevant the entire year. It’s also worth noting that with the current four-game streak the Wildcats locked up a winning season for the 28th straight year. That’s a lot of shots at a lot of big things.

Arizona has an impressive 6-3 road record. The only other team in the Pac-12 with a winning mark away from home this year is Oregon at 5-4. This team has done it before, just with a different kind of pressure.

Thursday night is a huge road game. Win that and you get another huge one two days later.

That anxiousness building in your stomach?

That’s the fun.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell has already started pacing. Burn that energy on Twitter and Facebook.

Someone other than Kevin Parrom will have to take this shot. And it has to go in this time.
Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

Life is more interesting when your team is in the March Madness conversation. Arizona Wildcats fans have a little more pep in their college basketball step as they prepare for this week’s games.

Washington stands alone atop the Pac-12 standings but will the Huskies’ path be as clear after a night on the blurry floor of the Matthew Knight Arena?

TWIT-Pac salutes Fox Sports for stepping up with a nice selection of games this week. Here is the plump TV schedule (all times Arizona/Mountain):

CSN NW = Comcast SportsNet Northwest
FSAZ = Fox Sports Arizona
FSN = Fox Sports Net
PT = Prime Ticket
ROOT NW = Root Sports Northwest

Thu. Feb. 9

Utah (5-18 / 2-9) at ASU (7-16 / 3-8)
This is the Utes’ last realistic chance at a win. Maybe they’ll break out the Rick Majerus Memorial Triangle-and-Two.

Colorado (16-7 / 8-3) at ARIZONA (16-8 / 7-4)
Colorado’s last two road losses were by a combined 37 points. The Cats need to shoot well early, get the McKale crowd going and make the Buffaloes dream of Tempe.

WSU (12-11 / 4-7) at OSU (15-8 / 5-6)
The Beavers have won four of their last five. Root for them to take this one and keep the momentum going into the Washington game.

Cal (18-6 / 8-3) at USC (6-18 / 1-10)
Cal bounced back after the Arizona loss by beating ASU by 21, but that’s not much of a bounce these days.

Stanford (16-7 / 6-5) at UCLA (13-10 / 6-5)
The Bruins have gone 3-1 the last two weekends with the lone loss a two-point defeat at Washington. They also haven’t lost in league play in their home-games-away-from-home.

Washington (16-7 / 9-2) at Oregon (16-7 / 7-4)
The Pac-12 Game of the Week! The Ducks can get themselves back into the conference race while the Huskies are trying to stiff-arm the competition. The first meeting was a 16-point UW win in Seattle.

Sat. Feb. 11

Utah at ARIZONA
The goal in this one is to put the game away without getting anyone ejected.

Cal at UCLA
Now that the Wildcats are playing for something tangible it’s time to root against the teams ahead of them in the standings. This one would be a Go Bruins!

WSU at Oregon
Wazzu is the only team to lose to both Utah and ASU. USC can’t wait for the rematch.

Colorado at ASU
If Thursday goes well the Cats could use the Devils’ help to completely leapfrog the Buffs.

Sun. Feb. 12

Washington at OSU
OSU has already been a factor in the Pac-12 race with wins over Cal and Oregon. An upset here would make things a free-for-all.

Stanford at USC
Three weeks ago we asked if Stanford’s close victories meant the Cardinal was overrated or simply knew how to win. Four losses in five games later we have our answer.

* * *

Your Arizona Wildcats had the best week of anyone in the Pac-12 (which is why Kyle Fogg is the reigning Player of the Week). Can they keep it going at home and leave the days of .500 basketball behind for good?

After Angelo Chol’s breakout performance I would look long and hard at finding more minutes for a lineup of Josiah Turner, Fogg, Solomon Hill, Jesse Perry and Chol. It’s the closest this team has to a standard lineup and it could free up Hill and Perry to be their best on offense without fouling as much on D.

But with only seven healthy (and productive) players your options are limited.

Keep up the energy, turn up the defensive pressure and the UA’s tournament chances will continue to bubble up.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell thinks things are looking up. Check out the view on Twitter and Facebook.

Will the Wildcats' season end like the Colorado game?
Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats lost another close basketball game and are barely hanging on to the top half of the Pac-12 standings.

It’s not unexpected, but that doesn’t mean it’s fun.

At first glance things don’t look terrible. Yes, the Cats are in 6th place but they’re only one game behind the co-(co-co-co)-leaders in the loss column. Turn either the Oregon or Colorado close losses into wins and you’re tied. Win them both and you’re alone at the top.

But you don’t get do-overs and the Oregon State win was this close to being a loss in regulation. Going back to mid-November Arizona has won twice in the same week only two times: New Mexico State and NAU, plus Oakland and Bryant. No Pac-12 weekends there.

Inspecting the remaining schedule the Cats still have the two hardest road trips left (Cal/Stanford and Washington/WSU). It looks a lot more like a 9-9 or 10-8 season than 12-6. The UA’s at-large bid believers are fading fast.

With an Elite Eight and conference championship already in Sean Miller’s pocket you forget he’s still rebuilding but this is definitely a transitional roster. No size, can’t shoot on the road (under 20% on 3s in three of the last four games), and no one who can reliably create his own shot.

So we lower expectations and wait.

I will be watching every game and hoping for wins the rest of the way, because that’s what we fans do. But I won’t be upset if the season ends the way it’s going right now.

What will upset me is if the players who will be around next year don’t get better. The improvement of the guards is crucial for the future. Josiah Turner is clearly making progress. He’s buying in, the game is slowing down for him and we’re starting to see the court vision and passing that made him such a valued recruit.

Turner’s backcourt mate, however, has been struggling as the season wears on. Nick Johnson hasn’t shown much lately besides outside jumpers and those have been sporadically successful the last few weeks. The roles were reversed a little over a month ago so there’s still plenty of time for Johnson to make developmental strides.

Solomon Hill and Kevin Parrom are also big to watch when looking toward next season. Hill has had some very strong stretches recently (minus the random WWE move against Utah) and Parrom just had his best weekend of the season.

These guys just need to keep listening in practice, bring maximum effort in games and get more experience playing together. If it comes to pass, root for getting into the NIT over nothing at all.

We got through one year without the tournament and, if needed, we’ll get through another. Dream big for next year. Dream even bigger about 2014.

What makes this awkward is Arizona Basketball hasn’t been a “wait till next year” program for almost thirty years. Fans feel almost dirty coming to grips with 5th or 6th place.

Hang in there, Wildcat fans. The hoops team’s current address is not a permanent residence.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is looking forward to the next game. Stay involved on Twitter and Facebook.

UW hopes to become the face of the Pac-12. Photo by Steven Bisig-US PRESSWIRE

We are starting to see some groupings in the Pac-12 basketball standings. Teams are clumping together in three tiers and the top teams finally play each other.

A true conference leader is about to emerge.

The Arizona Wildcats find themselves stuck in the conference’s large midsection. Can they pick up a couple road wins and climb back toward the top, or will they remain a consistently inconsistent win-one-lose-one team?

Arizona fans have good news if they want to watch the Cats try and bounce back, but bad news if they want to watch what could be the games that decide the Pac-12 race.

Here is the TWIT-Pac TV schedule (all times Arizona/Mountain). Happy channel hunting!

CSN BA = Comcast SportsNet Bay Area
CSN NW = Comcast SportsNet Northwest
FSAZ = Fox Sports Arizona
FSN = Fox Sports Net
PT = Prime Ticket
ROOT NW = Root Sports Northwest
ROOT RM = Root Sports Rocky Mountain

Thu. Jan. 19

ARIZONA (12-6 / 3-2) at Utah (4-13 / 1-4)
Utah’s best player was kicked off the team the day before the game. After an unpleasant loss against Oregon, the Wildcats aren’t complaining one bit.

ASU (6-11 / 2-3) at Colorado (11-6 / 3-2)
Would you believe that ASU is the third-best shooting team in the conference? The Sun Devils are not going to be as big a pushover as initially expected.

Cal (15-4 / 5-1) at Washington (11-6 / 4-1)
Game of the Year, part I. Washington will not be playing in the Bay Area this year so this game has a football-like feel to it. If the Huskies can hold serve at home this weekend they’ll be the new team to beat.

USC (5-13 / 0-5) at Oregon (13-5 / 4-2)
Oregon became the first Pac-12 team to sweep a road trip this year. The Ducks have the next three at home so now would be a good time to make a move toward that top spot.

Stanford (15-3 / 5-1) at WSU (9-8 / 1-4)
The Cardinal has Pac-12 wins by one, two, and three points. Is that a sign they’re overrated or the sign of a team that knows how to win?

UCLA (10-7 / 3-2) at OSU (11-7 / 1-5)
The Beavers are the anti-Stanford with a five-point loss and two defeats in overtime. This isn’t going to make them feel any better but they have to be the best 1-5 team in the country.

Sat. Jan. 21

UCLA at Oregon
The Bruins have quietly won three straight. If not for a one-point loss at Stanford they’d be in first place.

ASU at Utah
It’s a battle of teams that kicked their starting point guard off the team! ASU is actually down to its fourth point guard after academic ineligibility, disciplinary actions and injury.

ARIZONA at Colorado
As expected, the Buffaloes found Pac-12 life more difficult on the road. They’ll want to take advantage of these home games because after this weekend they’ll only have four games left in Boulder.

Cal at WSU
Washington State is canceling classes due to the snow but the game must go on. Bundle up, Coug fans!

Stanford at Washington
Game of the Year, part II. If Cal isn’t able to jump to the front of the line with a big road win, maybe Stanford can.

USC at OSU
The battle for last place ends here…at least until Utah and USC play next week.

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Like an old bottle of Italian dressing, the Pac-12 is starting to separate. Cal, Stanford and Washington look like the contenders with Utah, WSU, OSU and USC in the basement. In the middle are Oregon, Arizona, Colorado, UCLA and ASU. I’m including the Devils because they’ve already beaten two teams from the bottom.

After Saturday’s game Arizona will have played everyone else in the middle (the Cats went 1-2 against ASU, UCLA and Oregon). The bad news is the UA hasn’t played anyone in the top tier yet.

That, however, is a problem for next week. This week the Cats need to maintain their energy level the entire game and take care of the ball. Efficiency will be key as Arizona has failed to hit 60 points in three of its five Pac-12 games thus far.

A couple wins in the snow would warm the heart of the team from the desert.

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Scott Terrell is ready for some frosty hoop battles. Warm up on Twitter and Facebook.

It's not fun when the new guy fights back.
Photo by Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

With the loss to the Colorado Buffaloes the Arizona football season has become a teen movie. It starts with making fun of the new kids (and guys with names like “Beaver”) but it ends with the new guys getting the last laugh. And it’s not as interesting if there’s not a streaker involved.

The reality is with two more losses the 2011 Wildcats make the short list of the worst teams in school history.

Here are the contenders:

If they met on the field? This year’s team would be favored against the 2003 squad. The other two teams would also be in trouble, but only because they didn’t have facemasks.

The ‘11 Cats need an upset to avoid joining the equally-short list of UA teams that have finished in last place (WAC and Pac-10 only; the Border Conference must not have its website up yet):

Historically, landing in the cellar has had immediate consequences at Arizona. Jim LaRue was fired after the ’65 season. Mike Stoops was obviously fired this year. John Mackovic was allowed to return after 2002 and, sure enough, his ’03 team finished last again.

A sports philosopher might ask: Was Stoops fired because he had the worst team in the Pac-12 or is this the worst team in the Pac-12 because Stoops was fired?

If the chicken is dead and the egg is rotten does it really matter which came first?

Silver lining: Only two weeks left until coach-shopping season.

Bonus silver: At least it’s not the Pac-13.

* * *

The return of Kevin Parrom is the kind of college sports story we need during this era of major scandals. It’s a story of life intersecting basketball and providing an example we can relate to.

No, the vast majority of us weren’t shot during college, but you can’t go through life without losing someone you love. We all have obstacles to overcome and when you see a young man respond to his personal setbacks and get back to doing what he loves it’s a powerful reminder that, warts and all, sports are an important part of the college experience.

Kevin Parrom and Arizona assistant coach Book Richardson
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

Kevin Parrom and Arizona head coach Sean Miller
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

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Scott Terrell knows fans live the good and the bad. Experience it all on Twitter and Facebook.