Is it basketball season yet?

No, seriously. It’s an honest question. We’ve been kind of busy with that other sport.

It turns out the hoops season has in fact begun. The Red-Blue scrimmage is behind us (and – good news – the official site says we won) and the regular season is just around the corner.

Are you ready? Have you memorized the heights and weights of all the new players? Do you have your scouting report ready for when NAU comes to town on November 15?

Me neither.

Don’t get me wrong; I love Wildcat Basketball. I live (March 31, 1997) and die (March 26, 2005) with the Hoops Cats just as much as with their gridiron brethren. I can’t wait to see the start of the Sean Miller Era.

Actually, scratch that. This year I can wait.

It’s a strange feeling. For years and years basketball was the relief Arizona Wildcat fans needed. Every time Coach Tomey/Mackovic/Hankwitz/Stoops let us down Coach Olson was there to pick us up.

But things are a little different in 2009. Arizona Basketball is rebuilding with untested freshman and Arizona Football is in the Top 25.

When’s the last time that happened? I’m glad you asked. And thanks to this tremendous site I can give you the answer. The last time the UA hoops team started the season ranked lower in the AP poll than the Wildcat football team was the 1998-’99 season. On November 9, 1998 the footballers were #9 while the basketball team checked in at #18 in the preseason poll.

The 2009 football team has a long way to go but if the Cats can somehow stay in the Top 25 they stand a good chance of finishing the season ranked higher than Arizona Basketball for the first time since that ’98-’99 season. That year our football squad finished with a school record #4 ranking while the hoopsters finished a measly #13.

Now, the real question, one that will stretch your Wildcat memory: When was the last time the Arizona football team was ranked and the Arizona basketball team was not? Go ahead and guess. Oh come on, it’s no fun if you don’t guess.

You ready for this?

On December 2, 1986 the football team was ranked #16 and the basketball team was #20. In the following football poll, released January 4, 1987, the FootCats were #11 to finish the season (after our first ever bowl win) but by then the BasketCats had dropped out of the poll.

That 1987 basketball team finished the season unranked but Lute Olson’s Wildcats went on to finish in the Top 25 each of the next 18 years. During that span the football team made the final AP poll just four times.

Are the tables about to turn? Is Arizona Football ready to carry the flag for the UA athletic department? Or is this just a football mirage before Sean Miller rules this town?

OR…are we about to enter an unprecedented era when both programs are able to sustain success at a national level?

If it’s that final option I definitely can’t wait.

Rest time is over. The final bye week has passed for both players and fans. The stretch run is officially here, and Arizona is right in the thick of things.

Five games in five weeks, each with significance: Bowl eligibility. A winning season. The best team in the conference. The Territorial Cup. The league standard.

Are you ready for this? The entire spectrum of possibilities is out there, from a losing season to the Rose Bowl and everything in between. The year could end in ecstasy, or it could end in outrage.

Speaking of outrage, let me help you with that Oregon/USC comment:

Are you happy now, DUCK LOVER?!?? Not only are we not in first place but now Oregon is the greatest rushing team since the ’95 HUSKERS. We are going to get KILLED!!!!exclamationpoints!!

Yeah, I certainly didn’t expect that game to end in a blowout. But a couple things: 1) If I have to play the ’95 Huskers I’d rather do it at home, and 2) Oregon has just as many Pac-10 championships as we do over the past eight years. We’ll have to see how well the bull’s-eye fits on their outrageous uniforms.

I used my bye week to track down my crystal ball and see what the rest of the season has in store. Here’s what the Pac-10 bowl picture will look like if the favorite wins every remaining game (when in doubt I went with the home team):

A couple more things: 1) As bad as UCLA has been you can’t yet eliminate them from the bowl competition because they still play the three other teams in the dump competition. 2) It was a lot of fun writing “none” next to Arizona State.

If these are in fact the final standings the bowl scenarios are pretty clear. The Emerald Bowl has the fourth pick so Stanford would be staying in the Bay Area. I believe the Vegas Bowl would want to avoid a repeat so they would take Oregon State leaving Arizona with the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego.

However, if Oregon and USC both win out the Pac-10 stands a really good chance of finally getting two teams into BCS bowls. If it happens and Cal gets bumped up to the Holiday Bowl I think the Sun Bowl takes Arizona over OSU and Stanford due to proximity and length of time since our last appearance.

Now, we all know things aren’t going to play out exactly according to the script. There are upsets out there and we wouldn’t watch the games without them. Some teams aren’t going to play nice when they face the big boys. Let’s hope Arizona is one of them.

The reality is every single Pac-10 bowl is still in play for the UA – as is making no bowl at all. Your Top-Teens Wildcats have done a great job of getting to this point with a lot of options intact, but they still haven’t locked up anything.

If you look at it like the NFL this is the last week of the regular season. The Wildcats are fighting for a wild card spot and they’re playing the team with the #1 pick in the draft. Arizona is expecting to make the playoffs but you have to win the game. It doesn’t matter how well you planned on playing against the good teams in the postseason if you don’t beat the bad team to make the tournament.

Just because I called for us to be conservative personnel-wise against Washington State doesn’t mean I think we should use a conservative game plan. If I’m Mr. Dykes I would call an up-the-middle run (with Nick Booth) on my first snap, and then I would go no-huddle until the game was out of reach. Put Foles in the shotgun, give him three- and four-wide sets and let him pick Wazzu apart.

I don’t want to play any injured players but I want the guys out there to play aggressively. I definitely want the coaches to coach aggressively. Go for it on fourth-and-short. Blitz on third-and-long. Have a trick play ready, just in case. Attack, attack, attack. We have bowl eligibility to secure and a homecoming crowd to entertain.

It’s time to make the playoffs.

I was eating some whole wheat crackers at lunch and the box said: “May help reduce the risk of heart disease.” Really? It’s legal to brag about what your product might do? Alright then….

Reading about UA sports may help make you smarter, funnier and downright irresistible.

There. If you find yourself getting some extra attention from your Person of Significance today you’ll know who to thank.

On to the bonus thoughts from the UCLA game!

I appreciated the Wildcats’ ferocious strategy. On Arizona’s third play from scrimmage Delashaun Dean took the handoff, ran toward the UCLA sideline, went out of bounds and “accidentally” dismantled the Bruins’ hydration station. I believe that’s straight out of “The Art of War.”

The official attendance was 53,000 for Stanford and 51,000 for UCLA. Even if that’s true (and the wide shots of the east side stands weren’t pretty) how do you get fewer people after that Stanford game? Too much excitement? Too many wins? Come on, Tucson. Let’s go ahead and wait until the team loses again before we find something better to do on Saturdays.

Seventeen of Nick Foles’ 20 first-half passes were caught. It just so happens that three of them were snagged by the wrong team.

Chuck Cecil! Anyone who gets tired of that replay immediately gets his CatCard revoked.

Averted Turning Point I: After the Cats fumbled on their first snap of the second half UCLA set up shop on the UA 17 in a 10-point game. The defense forced two incomplete passes (including the one that should have been called a lateral/fumble) and successfully defended a screen to keep UCLA out of the end zone. Well done, D.

Keola’s top helmet straps stick out like antennae. Perfect for the Ant.

For the second straight game Matt Scott came in for one play and, just like last time, it was an inaccurate attempt at a WR screen. Are we trying to set something up for later in the year, or is this just to make sure we don’t take Foles for granted?

Watching the replay I noticed Fox Sports Arizona missed a play due to being late coming back from commercials a handful of times. With one fewer down to work with, those of you viewing live must have thought you watching Canadian football.

It’s true, there is someone on campus who can kick the ball into the end zone. Actually, he was already on the team; he just doesn’t have a scholarship. During the bye week you have to see what John Bonano can do as a placekicker, right?

You know how when people talk about needing a touchdown they say, “We gotta get six”? Arizona fans say that because it’s probably all we’re going to end up with.

The Cats had five turnovers against UCLA. We had five in the previous four games combined. I would like to order the offense from OSU/UW/Stanford and the defense from CMU/UCLA. To go.

Averted Turning Point II: After UCLA scored on the lateral/fumble (and I’m fine with the call. It was too close to overturn the ruling on the field) to cut the lead to 20-13, Arizona faced a third and 11 from its own 36. We ran an inside receiver screen to Terrell Turner and he cut it upfield nicely for 17 yards and a first down. The drive ended with Booth’s touchdown and the Bruins never threatened again.

From a wild final quarter filled with big plays, fourth-down drama and two long UA touchdowns, to a placid fourth quarter with zero combined points. Maybe that will whip the ticket-buying public into a frenzy.

Your Arizona Wildcats are now ranked in every poll. Is it because of our sterling record? No, 5-2 isn’t earth-shattering. Was it due to an impossible-to-ignore victory? Nah, UCLA is winless in conference play. So what changed? I guarantee the voters saw the UA listed among the BCS Top 25 all week and thought, “Wait, Arizona is ranked? I didn’t vote for them. I’ll have to change that so I don’t look like an idiot.” Sometimes peer pressure is a good thing.

Enjoy the bye week and soak in those rankings. Sometimes no pressure is a great thing.