The Wildcats are trying to take a big step in L.A.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

The Cal Bears, Stanford Cardinal and Washington Huskies posted 2-0 records last week as Pac-12 play got underway. All three will look to remain perfect as their paths do not yet cross.

The Arizona Wildcats posted a victory in their single conference game a week ago so they too will attempt to keep their Pac-12 record clean.

To do so the Cats will have to reverse their recent fortunes of the past few years in the City of Angels (or, in the case of tonight’s game, the University of California, Los Angeles of Anaheim).

TWIT-Pac has more games but fewer viewing opportunities this week.

Here is the TV schedule (all times Arizona/Mountain):

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

Thu. Jan. 5

Stanford (12-2 / 2-0) at Oregon (10-4 / 1-1)
Stanford passed its first test by sweeping the L.A. schools at home last week. Taking two from the Oregons would officially give them For Real status.

Washington (8-5 / 2-0) at Colorado (9-4 / 1-0)
Husky guard Tony “Not Rotten” Wroten introduced himself to the Pac-12 by winning the Player of the Week award, the first freshman to do so this season.

WSU (9-5 / 1-1) at Utah (3-10 / 1-1)
Unfortunately for the Cougars (and Huskies), this is their only game against Utah this year. UCLA and USC are the other pair that doesn’t get to double up on the woeful Utes.

ASU (4-9 / 0-1) at USC (5-10 / 0-2)
Somebody’s first league win is coming! First team to 35, wins!

Cal (12-3 / 2-0) at OSU (10-4 / 0-2)
Since it’s never too early…

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
OSU. Root for the Pac-12 favorite to feel the wrath of the Oregon Trail this weekend.

ARIZONA (10-4 / 1-0) at UCLA (7-7 / 0-2)
This game is at the Honda Center in Anaheim, the site of last year’s win over Duke (and loss to UConn). You’ll know it’s over if De’End Parker enters the game.

Sat. Jan. 7

Washington at Utah
UW averaged 85.5 points per game at home last week but only scored an average of 68.5 in their two true road games this year.

WSU at Colorado
Wazzu’s Reggie Moore is the Pac-12’s leading assist man, averaging 5.6 a game. Sharing is caring.

Stanford at OSU
The Beavers went 10-2 out-of-conference but started 0-2 in league play, and now they face what looks like the best two teams in the Pac-12. Oregon State’s season could go from “Great story!” to “Here we go again” in a hurry.

ASU at UCLA
The Sun Devils are in the middle of a stretch where they play five of their first seven conference games on the road. UCLA is doing the same thing but this is the Bruins’ two at “home.”

Sun. Jan. 8

ARIZONA at USC
USC has won its last three home games against the Wildcats. I wonder if Kevin O’Neill’s wife will be there.

Cal at Oregon
53 points against USC, 85 points vs. UCLA. Cal showed it can win at multiple speeds last week.

* * *

Neither the Bruins nor Trojans are going to win the conference but they’re still plenty dangerous. We all know what happened to the Cats in L.A. last year, and it’s the same thing that happened three years ago. All told the UA has lost five of its last six games on the SoCal swing.

Arizona won’t have to deal with Reeves Nelson but UCLA still features three 6-10 players in Josh Smith and the Wear twins. Will Sean Miller counter with more minutes for Kyryl Natyazhko and Angelo Chol or will he try to spread the floor and outshoot the Bruins with Solomon Hill and Jesse Perry?

USC went from relying on 7-footer Nikola Vucevic to being led by 5-7 Maurice Jones. But, as always, the name of the game for a KO-coached team is defense so the Cats will have to be patient and make sure their outside shots are good ones.

It’s too early to say any weekend is critical but Arizona’s two toughest road trips (the Bays and the Washingtons) are both on the back half of the schedule. Now’s the time to pick up wins and see if you can gain ground on Cal and Stanford. It also helps that UCLA and USC are as collectively down as they’re going to be.

The Wildcats are trying to get back to Hollywood endings in the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area.

* * *

A dollop of football…

If you were following on Twitter this is old news but Nick Foles’ reign as the most accurate passer in Pac-12 history was short-lived. After Foles finished the season ahead of Matt Leinart’s record for career completion percentage Andrew Luck completed a ridiculous 87% of his passes in the Fiesta Bowl to move ahead of Foles, 67.0% to 66.8%.

At least Foles can say he broke the record of a Heisman Trophy winner, and he held it for 36 days.

Speaking of Stanford, Cardinal fans have to be at least a little disappointed by the Jim Harbaugh/Andrew Luck era. Crazy? Here’s what they had:

• The greatest football coach in the world (the previous two Stanford coaches went 16-40 (.286) and the 49ers hadn’t had a winning season in nine years before Harbaugh went 13-3 this year)
• The greatest quarterback prospect in 13 years (The Next Peyton Manning will be replacing The First Peyton Manning in Indianapolis)
• Only the school’s second and third 10-win seasons in the past 71 years

…and they end up with no conference championships and a single bowl win. That’s gotta sting, right?

Of course, they got a Rose Bowl out of Ty Willingham and an eight-win team so Stanford has a long way to go in the Woe Is We department.

Enjoy the basketball action and, remember, baseball is just around the corner, plus it’s only 240 days until football season!

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is looking forward to hoops and Hi Corbett this weekend. Join in on Twitter and Facebook.

Yes, Rick, we’re talking about you.
Photo Rob Schumacher/The Arizona Republic

From the Arizona Wildcats’ perspective the only negative from the UCLA win – well, besides the fight and the mostly-naked guy – was pushing Bruin coach Rick Neuheisel to the edge of his increasingly hot seat.

Is it too late for Neuheisel to save his job or will UA athletic director Greg Byrne have competition in finding a football coach to work in the Pac-12?

You’ll notice in last week’s hot seat discussion that the Bruins didn’t need to beat Arizona to get to six wins. They still don’t.

Jeff Tedford and Cal got the win they needed against Utah (in convincing fashion, no less) but Mike Riley and the Beavers decided not to follow the Cheap Seats script. OSU dominated Washington State leaving the Cougars and Paul Wulff a long way from even five wins.

Here is the revised best-case scenario as well as each team’s best chance at an upset (that doesn’t detract from the best-case scenario). I even table-ified it for you (progress!):

Basically, when it comes to the hot seat squads, root for the home team unless Utah is involved.

- – -

Everybody has played at least seven games so bowl tickets are starting to get punched. Behold, the bubble:

Oregon got win #6 and is officially In. Colorado became the first Pac-12 team to clinch a losing season so the Buffaloes are Out.

Cal slid ahead of Utah since the Bears now have four wins and the Utes don’t have any more non-conference games to win.

We just spelled out how UCLA can still go bowling but the rest of the world isn’t as confident about Slick Rick’s chances.

Does Arizona have a bowl pulse after routing UCLA? Check back with me Saturday night at about, oh, 11 p.m.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell doesn’t want anyone to lose his job in these troubling times. Submit an application on Twitter and Facebook.

“Can I see some ID?”
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

For one night everything came together for the Arizona Wildcats football team.

Tim Kish’s debut as the interim head coach was a rousing success and the blowout of UCLA should be enjoyed as long as possible.

Just don’t try to read anything into it.

This win should stand alone. A one-game perfect storm of emotion and execution. Don’t try to make it a predictor of things to come. I know Arizona’s remaining Pac-12 opponents each lost their last game and the combined score was 185-60, but the Cats don’t need any expectations.

As if they weren’t already going to be big underdogs playing a 5-2 team on the road, half the two-deep will be missing from the secondary for at least a half against Washington.

Enjoy the UCLA game, let the Wildcats go out and play ball, and enjoy the UCLA game some more.

On we go…

On progress
The Arizona offensive line had a tremendous showing on Thursday. In addition to the 254 rushing yards the Cats only allowed one sack, had just one holding penalty and committed no false starts. There were no illegal snaps either.

On aggression
Early in the 2nd quarter Arizona was at the UCLA 34 and Kish faced the first 4th down of his head coaching career. First of all, you know things are going well when you have 21 points before you see 4th down. But even with a 14-point lead Kish went for it on 4th-and-4. Nick Foles converted with a pass to Gino Crump, the Cats scored three plays later and the rout was on. There is no reason for the KishCats not to keep gambling as the year goes on.

On the attendance
It was the smallest crowd at Arizona Stadium since Mike Stoops’ first Pac-10 game, and it was very disappointing. I probably shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up for a big turnout but I did.

Playing on a Thursday isn’t an excuse because there were over 50,000 at the Dennis Dixon/Oregon game four years ago. I get that some people couldn’t get off work early but showing up late is better than not showing up at all.

I’ll never understand the strategy of only going to games (or even scrimmages) when the team wins. It’s like planting a field, complaining about how long it’s taking to grow and then saying you’re not going to water it again until you see some crops.

Those who were at the UCLA game were treated to a great show and I look forward to sitting among you the rest of the year.

On the uniforms
Forget the double-eagle flex, Kish’s biggest adjustment was obviously doing his uniform combination research. He found the only home combo with a perfect record and added to its perfection.

Contrast that to Stoops who sent his team out for the Oregon State game in the same combination that had lost to USC the previous week. It was the first time Arizona had worn the same combo following a loss since the Cal/USC games in 2005. Both then and now the fashion faux pas contributed to five-game losing streaks. When you don’t dress for success you undress for failure. Speaking of which…

On the streaker
I’m not going to be pretend to be morally superior. I laughed. I thought it was an impressive prank. But if the guy was hoping for leniency from a judge and/or university officials he shouldn’t be doing interviews where he says his only regret is not doing a sack dance.

On the brawl
Again, I’m not going to feign righteous indignation. It was exciting. It was great to see the Wildcats fighting for each other after a week (and season) of turmoil. No, you shouldn’t throw punches at anyone and those who were suspended got what they deserved. No, I don’t want to see Arizona starting any more fights this season. But showing some fire in a game between two desperate teams the week after your coach got fired? Seeing a bunch of Wildcats leaving the sideline a couple days after reading this? Didn’t ruin my night at all.

On the record book
Eight different players share the UA record for most touchdown receptions in a game with three, but Juron Criner became the first Cat pass-catcher to do it twice. Criner’s triple against UCLA matched his output against Oregon in the what-might-have-been game in 2009.

On good company
The most thrilling finish in college football this weekend was Michigan State’s Hail Mary. The Spartans just happen to be coached by Mark Dantonio, the best friend of Tim Kish. The most thrilling finish in the NFL this weekend was the Denver Broncos’ 15-point rally. Tim Tebow just happened to be praying with Spencer Larsen during the game-winning kick.

Coincidence? You decide.

Either way it was a great week to be associated with the Arizona Wildcats.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is always trying to catch the ricochet. Knock it down on Twitter and Facebook.

Last 11 FBS games: 1-0 vs. UCLA, 0-10 vs. everyone else.
Photo by Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

The 2011 football season has been an exact replica of the 2010 season so far for the Arizona Wildcats. Two losses each against Oklahoma State, Stanford, Oregon, USC and Oregon State.

Does that mean a second win against UCLA is on the horizon?

In has been 12 days and one coach since the Cats last took the field. You don’t need to wait a minute more!

Well, unless you’re reading this at 5:59 p.m. on Thursday evening you do have to wait more than a minute. But not much. Now grab your signs, fake an illness and get to that tailgate!

Your TWIT-Pac TV schedule returns (all times Arizona/Pacific):

UCLA (3-3 / 2-1) at ARIZONA (1-5 / 0-4)
The UA knows UCLA was the last FBS team it beat. UCLA knows it was the last FBS team to lose to Arizona. Vegas knows it too. But are the Bruins going to follow the script?

Oregon (5-1 / 3-0) at Colorado (1-6 / 0-3)
No Heisman candidate, no starting quarterback, no problem for the Ducks against ASU last week. Now Oregon gets a couple unofficial bye weeks before back-to-back road tests against Washington and Stanford.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Oregon. We’re #11! We’re #11!

Utah (3-3 / 0-3) at Cal (3-3 / 0-3)
The Utes are undefeated against everyone but the teams in their new conference. Maybe they’re the program that should have gone independent.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Cal. Gotta get Bear fans happy with Jeff Tedford again.

USC (5-1 / 3-1) at Notre Dame (4-2)
Notre Dame beat Michigan State who beat Michigan who beat Notre Dame. None of this has anything to do with USC.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
USC. USC beat Utah who beat Pitt who lost to Notre Dame. Again with the meaninglessness.

Washington (5-1 / 3-0) at Stanford (6-0 / 4-0)
The Cardinal’s first true test comes against a Husky team that has scored at least 30 points every single game. Of course, Stanford has scored at least 37 in every game and has been under 44 only once.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Stanford. Keep the conference’s BCS championship hopes alive. Unless you think a UW win would set them up for a huge letdown against Arizona next week.

OSU (1-5 / 1-2) at WSU (3-3 / 1-2)
According to the hot seat cooling strategy the Cougars need this win more.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
WSU. Don’t forget, Beaver fans, Mike Riley had you one win from the Rose Bowl two times in the last four seasons. One more year! One more year!

ASU (5-2 / 3-1) – bye
The Sun Devils have an extra week to prepare for a Colorado team that could probably use an extra three weeks.

- – -

21-0
10-0
14-0
17-0
14-0

Those are the deficits the Wildcats have faced during the five-game losing streak.

Score once before UCLA scores twice. That’s it. That’s the one goal for this game. Who knows, maybe if this team takes a 1st quarter lead it becomes an unstoppable machine of gridiron domination.

But if it doesn’t happen, you can’t leave. Not in the 1st quarter; not at halftime. We The People are telling the world of good football coaches that the University of Arizona is the place to be.

Who’s up for an unstoppable machine of gridiron domination?

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is ready for some live football. Put on your face paint and join him on Twitter and Facebook.

Lute Olson was used to stomping on the rest of the Pac-10.
Photo by Michael Chow/The Arizona Republic

The official birth of the Pac-12 is Friday, ending the conference’s 33-year run as a 10-team league.

If you’re a fan of the Arizona Wildcats and averted your eyes during the look back at Pac-10 football, it’s safe to come out now.

Here’s how the schools stack up in terms of won-loss record, NCAA tournament appearances, Final Fours and championships after 33 years of Pac-10 basketball.

Last week we thought it was interesting that only three teams had won the Rose Bowl more than once in the Pac-10 era. In hoops only three teams even posted a winning record during the same span. How’s that for top-heavy?

The two heavyweights separated themselves even more on the list of conference championships:

The UA and UCLA combined to win 2/3 of the titles. It’s fitting they battled until the final weekend for the last Pac-10 championship.

To give Sean Miller something to shoot for, here’s the all-time conference championships list for the PCC/AAWU/Pac-8/Pac-10:

Cal, you’re next.

Stepping onto the national stage we have the Pac-10’s participation in March Madness (which does not include vacated years):

Washington needed this year’s appearance to move into the upper division where it joined the other three participants in the 2011 Big Dance.

UCLA’s fifth Four during the era was vacated.

As far as national championships the basketball side of the conference was less successful than football. After a post-expansion drought UCLA won it all in 1995 and the Cats cut down the nets two years later. It looked like the Pac-10 was back on top but no one from the conference has been able to break through since.

Arizona lost the championship game in 2001 and the Bruins were the runners-up in 2006 but that’s it. The league is definitely overdue for someone carrying the Pac flag to the top of the mountain.

The first Pac-12 coach to win a title will be instantly tied for the most championships out of the conference since John Wooden.

Take aim, Coach Miller.

- – -

Don’t change that dial. The look at Pac-10 baseball history is on the horizon!

- – - – -

Scott Terrell wonders if Idaho still hangs its two Pacific Coast Conference banners. Celebrate your championships on Twitter and Facebook.

Gerrit Cole has been scarier than the IRS.
Photo by Deirdre Hamill/The Arizona Republic

Have you filed your taxes yet?

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team is hoping its adjusted gross income includes another series win but they’re facing a pitching staff that doesn’t allow many deductions.

TWIT-Pac is here to audit the weekend’s hardball schedule.

As usual, the listed rankings are the averages of the five polls:

#20.0 ARIZONA (22-11 / 4-5)
at #19.2 UCLA (17-11 / 7-2)
Early in the season UA coach Andy Lopez said, “Somebody tells me everybody and their mother is ranked in Pac-10 baseball.” As the Cats get set to face a Top-25 team for the fourth straight weekend it probably feels like everybody’s mother, sister, aunt, and three cousins once removed.

#12.2 OSU (24-7 / 5-1) at #18.6 Stanford (16-9 / 3-3)
The Beavers now have everyone’s attention, but how will things change as Oregon State goes from home underdogs to road favorites?

WSU (14-14 / 2-7) at #11.2 ASU (22-9 / 5-4)
Arizona State tries to make Wazzu “Fear the Fork.” (No, I can’t type that without giggling.) Considering the Devils still have to play Cal, Stanford and UCLA they can’t afford even one loss this weekend if they want to win the league a fifth straight time.

#20.0 Cal (20-9 / 6-3) at Washington (10-20 / 2-4)
The Huskies have won three of four, all on the road. This is the Bears’ last respite before their schedule fills up with ranked relatives.

Oregon (16-4 / 1-5) at USC (13-19 / 4-5)
Wildcat fans should be rooting for the Ducks. If things don’t go well in L.A. the UA could wake up Monday morning in 7th place.

The flip side is Arizona has a direct shot at one of the teams above it.

The Cats’ 3-0 record on Pac-10 Friday nights will be severely tested against Gerrit Cole, he of the two consecutive complete-game wins. On paper this is a pitchers’ duel to end all pitchers’ duels. UCLA has already played two 1-0 games, three 2-1 games, two 3-2 games and a 2-0 game. If you’re in the Los Angeles area and you have an hour to spare you may be able to take in the whole game.

As poorly as the Bruins hit if you get any kind of lead against them you’re in a great shape. The problem is they make it extremely hard to score, let alone build a lead.

Putting the ball in play will be at a premium. Bunting will be crucial. Every run will be worth about 57 barrels of crude oil.

The game times are 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Kurt Heyer and Kyle Simon will take their normal starts but Arizona’s game three starter is listed as TBA, which means Lopez’s patience is wearing thin with Tyler Hale.

You can listen to Saturday and Sunday’s games on 1290 AM in Tucson and you can get all three games via free online radio through UCLA.

Maybe your bullpen be strong and your tax refund large.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell thinks all forms should be EZ. Itemize your sports on Twitter and Facebook.

UCLA is looking for a supersized week.
Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Do you find yourself putting more arc on your shots into the waste basket? Are you filling up your clothes hamper from long range?

It must be March.

The final weekend of the Pac-10 regular season is here. Who will give their NCAA tournament resume a boost? What will be the seeding at Staples Center? Who will win the conference championship? Will there be bi-winners?

TWIT-Pac loves this time of year!

The schedule and TV info:

Thu. Mar. 3
(all times Arizona/Mountain)

FSN = Fox Sports Net

Sat. Mar. 5

- – -

Thu. Mar. 3

Oregon (14-14 / 7-9) at ASU (10-18 / 2-14)
Shouldn’t the Sun Devils be prohibited from using “March Madness” in their ticket promotions? Isn’t that false advertising?

OSU (10-17 / 5-11) at ARIZONA (23-6 / 12-4)
67-64, 63-55, 76-75. The last three Wildcat/Beaver games don’t make sense, but there they are.

UCLA (21-8 / 12-4) at Washington (19-9 / 10-6)
If you’re at McKale Thursday night don’t even look at your phone. All your fan energy needs to go into Arizona beating OSU.

USC (17-12 / 9-7) at WSU (18-10 / 8-8)
The Trojans have won four straight. The Cougars became the first team to win at Washington. That puts both squads on the bubble for getting on the bubble.

Sat. Mar. 5

Oregon at ARIZONA
Who doesn’t love the CBS college basketball theme song?

OSU at ASU
The long anticipated Battle for the Basement will not occur as ASU clinched last place last week. It’s the second 10th place finish in Herb Sendek’s half-decade at Arizona State. That’s one more than Rob Evans had and it’s equal to the total number of dead-last finishes in ASU’s first 28 years in the Pac-10.

UCLA at WSU
Will the Bruins’ title dreams be crushed before tipoff, or will this be the final Pac-10 championship game?

Stanford at Cal
Because it’s on the schedule.

USC at Washington
The Huskies’ first loss to WSU sent them into a tailspin that resulted in getting swept on the Oregon Trail. Will the second Wazzu loss start a stretch that sweeps them out of the Big Dance?

- – -

Oregon is the better team on Arizona’s schedule this week. The Ducks have more wins and a better conference record while Oregon State has yet to win a Pac-10 road game. But Thursday’s UA/OSU matchup is the key to the championship.

The Wildcats need to get this first one out of the way to send the message (most importantly to themselves) that the L.A. trip is over, the team that started 12-2 in Pac-10 play is still here, and the 15-0 home record is legit.

The Cats need to get the Beaver off their backs.

It would be best to get a couple 3-pointers to fall early. Let the team relax and say, “We’re at home; it’s OK to be good again.” So Solomon Hill (43%) and Parrom/Mayes/Horne (all 42%) need to be ready when the defense collapses on Derrick Williams and the open shot is there.

They don’t let you play NCAA tournament games at home so winning a conference title in your own gym is as good as it gets.

Take full advantage, Wildcat Universe!

- – - – -

Scott Terrell was born for March. March on over to Twitter and Facebook!

WHERE'S MY CAR?!?
Photo by Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona basketball team had no answer. They were humbled. Their losses to USC and UCLA were brutal and unacceptable.

They’re exactly where they want to be.

It’s true there was not one redeeming quality about the Wildcats’ performance in L.A. Not a single thing worth remembering and trying to build on.

Yet the standings still show Arizona in 1st place. The schedule still has the Cats finishing up at home against the Oregon schools while UCLA has to travel to the state of Washington.

It’s an exercise in contrasts: Would you rather be the team coming off a sweep and playing the toughest road trip, or the team that just got swept but is playing the easiest home stand?

It’s B, right? Home court trumps all.

Those claims about difficulty and ease aren’t just hyperbole. Washington and WSU are a combined 11-3 in conference home games this year (even with UW falling to the Cougars). That .786 winning percentage is tops among Pac-10 travel partners.

Oregon and OSU have joined forces to go 3-11 on the road in Pac-10 play, the worst mark for a rivalry pair by a wide margin. If the Wildcats got to choose the remaining schedule for themselves and UCLA it would look exactly like it looks now.

Yes, the Wildcats can still lose these games. For one, Sean Miller has never beaten Oregon State. But the biggest monkey on Arizona’s back is named Mo.

Momentum is a massive force in college sports. We know all about the Tale of Two Half-Seasons by the Wildcat football team. The UA baseball squad started 20-4 last year but ended on a 7-15 slide. A season can suddenly turn and never come back.

Tied for 1st place heading into the final weekend. There isn’t a single Cat fan who wouldn’t have jumped all over that in November. Heck, I would have taken it just two weeks ago.

For this team, at this point in the program’s development, this remains a great place to be and a significant opportunity.

With Washington turning into the Tin Man against Wazzu there’s no guarantee that UCLA loses this week. (Stat of the weekend: In the 2nd half the Huskies scored three times as many points as they scored in the 1st half, and they lost by double-digits.) But it doesn’t matter. An Arizona co-championship with a split against the other contenders and not getting swept by anybody would still be very rewarding.

Turn off the Pac-10 scoreboard, win two home games, and celebrate.

What’s it going to take?

1. Pass the ball.
The Wildcats had a combined 28 assists at home against the Washington schools. They had a paltry nine this past weekend.

2. Make shots.
You can’t get assists if the ball doesn’t go through the hoop. 54% 3-point shooting vs. WSU and Washington, 26% in Los Angeles. The gym matters.

3. Emotion, emotion, emotion.
Mo and Emo go hand in hand. Feed off the crowd, ratchet up the energy and attack.

If this were a car race – preferably the Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix, to boost the local economy of course – the UA just spun around four times and put a huge dent in its front end. But now that the smoke has cleared the Wildcats are still on the lead lap and they have the fastest car – the one with the big “McKale Center” on the roof.

There’s no time to pout. There’s no need to pout.

Grab the wheel and hit the gas.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is branching out with some NASCAR analogies. Make a pit stop on Twitter and Facebook!

This shot did not go in. It was not alone.
Photo by Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

On behalf of the Wildcat Universe I have a request:

Could you please stop ranking our athletic teams in the top 10?

It was not a pretty game. Arizona shot 36% from the field. USC shot 10% on 3-pointers. The Wildcats’ leading scorer had 12 points. Half of the Trojans’ six-man rotation combined to score seven points. If you’re a fan of good offense it was a great night not to have access to Fox Sports Arizona Plus.

Was it Kevin O’Neill’s mind tricks? Last week he called the Cats a sleeper pick to win the national championship but against his team the UA didn’t make a field goal in the final six minutes.

KO compared Derrick Williams to Michael Jordan and the result was the Arizona star attempting just two free throws and scoring a season-low eight points.

After the Wildcats’ ugly loss to Oregon State on their first Pac-10 road trip we figured we’d see another one down the road. The good news is it didn’t happen again until the last road trip of the season. The bad news is it ups the ante quite a bit for the second game of that last road trip.

Saturday’s showdown at UCLA just got a lot more interesting. Win and you clinch a share of the Pac-10 title. Lose and the league is all tied up going into the final weekend.

Championship teams aren’t just hatched like Lady Gaga. They’re forged when the pressure is greatest. Starting now, the pressure is greatest.

After an uninspiring debut for the new red uniforms I’m guessing we’ll see the blue ones return on Saturday.

(Yes, I spent too much time looking up the numbers. Yes, I’m going to put them in an html table.)

The Wildcats are still in 1st place and can still win the Pac-10 against UCLA.

The best way to do that is to play like they’re not in the top 10.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell will not be acquiring a Kevin O’Neill bobblehead any time soon. Join in the head-shaking on Twitter and Facebook.

All white was all right.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

The game was decided by two blocked shots. The first one bounced directly to Solomon Hill who laid it in for a one-point lead.

The second one was knocked into the fourth row.

And now the Arizona Wildcats are running out of stumbling blocks on the path to a Pac-10 championship.

What a great atmosphere at McKale. A packed house, national TV, two teams going back and forth with a championship at stake. To say it was “electric” is like saying a lightning bolt shocks a little. This was big time.

Even the white. The glorious white.

White-outs and other “-outs” only work when everybody does it. On Saturday everybody did it. From courtside to nosebleed. I didn’t like the idea of a color gimmick, but I have been converted.

(Then again, I’m the silly guy who keeps uniform stats. Why should I doubt the power of fan uniforms?)

Then on Sunday night the Wildcats got a huge assist when UCLA went down at Berkeley. Add in Washington’s loss at Stanford and Arizona’s triple-overtime win to complete the Bay sweep may end up being the difference in the Pac-10 race.

(You know who else owns a sweep of the Bay Area? Read on.)

Sean Miller and his youngsters are oh-so-close to that trophy now. Any two wins in the final four games clinch a share of the conference title. But if you’ve come this far you may as well win it outright, right? Choose your path:

That's right, coach. Any three wins will do.
Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

-Beat USC and UCLA.

-Beat USC, lose to UCLA, beat Oregon State while UCLA loses to Washington.

-Beat USC, OSU and Oregon.

-Beat OSU and Oregon; UCLA loses to Washington.

You want to relax but it’s not quite time. Call it the Don’t-buy-your-Rose-Bowl-tickets-just-because-your-team-is-7-1 Principle.

It’s worth noting that the two teams tied for 4th place are USC and Oregon. The Trojans just swept the Bay Area trip (surprise!). The Ducks have won four of five and six of eight. And, by the way, nobody has a longer active win streak against Arizona than Oregon State. The next two weeks won’t be like playing ASU four times.

But it only takes a couple more wins.

You think Kevin O’Neill would let the Wildcats wear white?

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Scott Terrell will no longer doubt the -out. Coordinate your colors on Twitter and Facebook!