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?

- – - – -

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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.

Where will Austin Hill and the winning-season Wildcats be playing this December?
Photo by Russ Isabella-US PRESSWIRE

This just feels like a really good win.

Arizona takes its 0-3 road record (allowing 56 points per game away from home)…against a desperate team…with a 4-1 home record…on its senior night…in cold, wet conditions…with injured defensive players falling like raindrops…with a rusty, nauseasy quarterback…and Arizona wins.

The victory in Salt Lake City locked up a winning season for the Wildcats and improved the team’s bowl standing. Now the problem is trying to figure out where exactly the Cats will be standing in the postseason.

When you begin thinking about all of Arizona’s bowl possibilities you start to feel like Matt Scott after too much Gatorade and too many running plays. The bowl picture becomes much clearer if you accept the following assumptions:

• Oregon (10-1), Stanford (9-2), Oregon State (8-2) and UCLA (9-2) will all be selected before Arizona. For the sake of this exercise and unnecessary alliteration, we’ll call them the Fit Four.
• Washington will beat Wazzu to finish 8-4.

So if Arizona beats ASU to get to 8-4 the Wildcats will be competing with Washington and USC for bowl position (no matter what the brand-name Trojans do against Notre Dame). It’s also safe to assume that ASU will get selected ahead of Arizona if the Devils beat the Cats and both teams finish 7-5.

The major determining factor in who goes where is whether or not the Pac-12 gets a second team into the BCS bowls. If Stanford beats UCLA to win the North and Oregon beats OSU to finish 11-1, Oregon would be in line for a BCS at-large bid (like the one that put 11-1 Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl last year). The remaining members of the Fit Four would then land in the Rose, Alamo and Holiday Bowls.

If Oregon fades and the Pac-12 only ends up with one BCS team, the Fit Four would occupy the Rose/Alamo/Holiday/Sun and the competition among the middle of the Pac would start there.

Add it up and here are the UA’s bowl scenarios from the best case to the worst:

Sun Bowl – Mon. Dec. 31

Here’s what has to happen for the Wildcats to end up in El Paso:

• Pac-12 gets two BCS bids
• Notre Dame beats USC
• Arizona beats ASU

It’s possible a 7-5 USC team still gets picked over 8-4 Arizona but we’re going to say the Sun Bowl chooses the geographically closer team that has won five of its last six games as opposed to the terribly disappointing team that lost four of its last five.

Las Vegas Bowl – Sat. Dec. 22

There are two ways for the Cats to get back to Vegas for the second time in five years:

• Pac-12 gets two BCS bids
• Sun Bowl selects USC or Washington
• Vegas Bowl takes Arizona over the other one

Or:

• Pac-12 gets one BCS bid
• Vegas Bowl takes Arizona ahead of both USC and Washington

Fight Hunger Bowl – Sat. Dec. 29

Dreaming of December in San Francisco? You want:

• Pac-12 gets two BCS bids
• Sun/Vegas select USC/Washington
• Arizona goes to Fight Hunger

Or:

• Pac-12 gets one BCS bid
• Vegas Bowl selects USC or Washington
• Hunger Game takes Arizona over the other one

New Mexico Bowl – Sat. Dec. 15

The options are:

• Pac-12 gets two BCS bids
• ASU beats Arizona
• Sun/Vegas/Hunger select USC/Washington/ASU
• Arizona is only eligible Pac team left

Or:

• Pac-12 gets one BCS bid
• Arizona beats ASU
• Vegas/Hunger select USC/Washington
• Arizona goes to New Mexico, even with an 8-4 record

Your worst-case scenario:

• Pac-12 gets one BCS bid
• Arizona loses to ASU
• Vegas/Hunger/New Mexico select USC/Washington/ASU
• Arizona gets shipped to a random bowl that needs a team

I have no doubt a seven-win Pac team finds a bowl home somewhere (I also believe a 6-6 ASU squad would still get an invite) but it’ll take one more win to guarantee the Cats stay out west.

As if Wildcat Universe needs any more incentive this week.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell strains his brain so you don’t have to. Root for the bowl of your choice on Twitter and Facebook.

Austin Hill may already be the best wide receiver to ever wear #29.
Photo by Matt Kartozian -US PRESSWIRE

The Pac-12 Championship Game is in two weeks but this week is the semifinals. Both divisions could be wrapped up on Saturday as the four remaining contenders pair up on the field.

In the middle of the Pac, three teams are jockeying for bowl position, another team is trying to get bowl eligible and one team needs to beat the Arizona Wildcats to keep its postseason hopes alive.

TWit-Pac has mini-previews, a bowl draft, stats and more, but the TV schedule comes first (all times Arizona/Mountain):

.
What did FX do to get stuck with Colorado for the third straight week?

There is minimal suspense with the bowl bubble so we are introducing the bowl mock draft. Here are the Pac-12’s tie-ins:

.
Here’s how I see the Pac’s bowl partners selecting teams if the season ended today:

BCS Championship Game – Oregon (10-0)
With Alabama losing, the computers finally like the Ducks enough to get them into the top two.

Rose Bowl – Stanford (8-2)
There’s a lot of talk about Notre Dame getting invited to Pasadena but I believe the Rose Bowl will take the second-place Pac-12 team if one is eligible and Stanford is currently in the top 14 of the BCS standings.

Alamo Bowl – UCLA (8-2)
The San Antonians would be tempted to take USC but UCLA’s record and first-place standing win out today. The Bruins already have two more wins than last year’s Pac-12 South champs.

Holiday Bowl – USC (7-3)
USC’s prestige factor trumps its record. The positive is everyone gets to snicker about the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.

Sun Bowl – Oregon State (7-2)
The folks in El Paso would be very happy to land a two-loss team.

Las Vegas Bowl – ARIZONA (6-4)
The Cheap Seats don’t bother with corporate sponsorships. The UA’s location and head-to-head thrashing make the Wildcats more attractive than Washington.

Fight Hunger – Washington (6-4)
The only eligible Pac-12 team left.

New Mexico – none
Albuquerque will be rooting for ASU this week.

Five teams are clearly above Arizona in the bowl pecking order, four due to record and head-to-head results and one due to name recognition. Even if a second team gets into the BCS it looks like the Cats are going to Vegas, San Fran or Querque (that’s its nickname, right?). The UA has never played in two of those bowls so there could be foreign territory to conquer.

Which squads will improve their bowl standings with wins this week? Onward!

Washington (6-4 / 4-3) at Colorado (1-9 / 1-6)
Wait, the Huskies are in the BCS top 25? The same U-Drubbed team that has been beaten by 30 three times? Score one for strength of schedule (and the computers ignoring margin of defeat).

USC (7-3 / 5-3) at UCLA (8-2 / 5-2)
When the season started USC was No. 1 and UCLA’s coach didn’t even have one college win. Now the winner clinches the Pac-12 South, and if Lane Kiffin isn’t that winner he might not be allowed to try and earn more college wins.

WSU (2-8 / 0-7) at ASU (5-5 / 3-4)
If Mike Leach is going down in flames, is it too much to ask that this be his version of John Mackovic getting carried off the field at Cal?

Stanford (8-2 / 6-1) at Oregon (10-0 / 7-0)
If Stanford wins it will have to also beat UCLA next week to clinch the North but if the Ducks prevail all the P12CG tickets can be sold before Thanksgiving.

ARIZONA (6-4 / 3-4) at Utah (4-6 / 2-5)
Did anyone else find it fitting that the Wildcats beat Colorado by exactly 25?

Cal (3-8 / 2-6) at OSU (7-2 / 5-2)
Oregon State beats Cal and loses to Oregon, Stanford loses to Oregon and UCLA, Oregon goes to the national championship game, OSU cancels its computer-killer game with Nicholls State, the Beavers sneak into the BCS top-14 and go to the Rose Bowl. No problem, right?

* * *

If you listen closely you can probably hear Ka’Deem Carey putting yet another award on his shelf but Arizona’s record-breaking back isn’t the only Cat hitting milestones. Austin Hill caught three passes for 29 yards last week to become the seventh Wildcat to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards in a season.

Most Receiving Yards, Season

.
This is only the second time in history the UA has produced a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver in the same season. Trung Canidate (1,602) and Dennis Northcutt (1,422) accomplished the feat in 1999.

All that’s left is to get Matt Scott another 152 passing yards to give the Wildcats their first season with a 3,000-1,000-1,000 trio.

* * *

You can’t read anything into Utah losing by 19 at Washington last week just like the Huskies’ blowout loss in Tucson did nothing to prevent UW from beating Oregon State a week later. Arizona, Washington and Utah seem like one of those college football stalemates where A beats B, B beats C, and then C beats A.

To prevent the third portion of that equation from happening the Cats are going to have to throw the ball around. Keeping it on the ground 73% of the time may work against Colorado but Utah is third in the conference in rush defense and total defense. The UA will have to stretch the field from sideline to sideline and test the Ute secondary deep and underneath.

It sure would help to have the guy who’s third in the nation in total offense to go along with the guy who’s second in the nation in rushing.

This is Arizona’s last chance at a road win. Utah needs a win to have a shot at a 10th-straight bowl game.

The Utes scored 49 points in each of their last two wins. It might just take Arizona’s fifth 50-point game to pull this off.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell loves bowl talk in the fall. Share travel advice on Twitter and Facebook.

Oregon gets its shot to turn heads this weekend.
Photo by Thomas Patterson/Statesman Journal

The UCLA Bruins and the Ducks of Oregon have the headline showdown as the Pac-12 baseball race continues to take shape.

The Arizona Wildcats have a week in between spotlight series but that doesn’t mean the games will be easy.

So I didn’t even get a chance to tell you about Arizona’s shiny new rankings and the Wildcats already have a loss this week. Midweek road games are tough, especially when doing battle with a man named Goose.

The pre-Goose rankings:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

The Pac-12 no longer has the #2 team but the conference has at least one top-5 team in every poll but one. ASU’s 1-4 week has the Sun Devils hanging on to the bottom of the rankings.

TWIT-Pac brings you this week’s action from The Conference of Top Ten Teams (all series are today through Saturday due to Easter):

#6.6 ARIZONA (21-8 / 7-2) at Utah (7-20 / 3-6)
After winning its first two Pac-12 games ever, the Utes have lost nine of 10 overall.

#18.4 Oregon (18-8 / 6-3) at #5.0 UCLA (20-5 / 7-2)
This is a huge series. Only four schools have a winning record in Pac-12 play and you’re looking at half of them. Oregon swept ASU last week and the Bruins swept Utah.

#20.2 OSU (18-8 / 6-3) at #25.0 ASU (16-12 / 3-6)
The Devils only had 16 regular season losses all last year. With the postseason ban hanging over their heads this is a key weekend to prevent motivation from slipping away.

#8.2 Stanford (17-6 / 2-4) at Washington (16-9 / 3-3)
The Cardinal could really use a sweep but the Huskies have won the first game in both of their league series so far.

Cal (16-10 / 1-5) at USC (17-9 / 3-5)
After the Bears won two of three in Texas the Longhorns are 5-1 in the Big 12 and 1-5 against the Pac-12.

Seattle (14-10) at WSU (13-12 / 3-5)
Wazzu shouldn’t take the Readhawks lightly. Seattle does, after all, have a series win against Utah Valley.

* * *

We just talked about how this Arizona team is built for weekend series. The Cats will continue to struggle in any midweek game when they don’t score a bunch of runs.

Freshman Tyler Crawford did well in his first career start (it was a 1-1 game when he exited in the 6th) but that “middle part of the ‘pen,” as Andy Lopez laments, faltered once again.

Arizona just swept Stanford. Next week is a showdown with UCLA. The Bruins just swept Utah in Salt Lake City by a combined score of 30-7. These sure look like trap games, right?

You would hope the UA got its “Oh yeah, we’re mortal” game out of the way and can come out sharp tonight but there are no guarantees on the road. The triumvirate of Heyer, Wade and Farris will again have to lead the way.

The good news for Arizona? Looking at Utah’s roster I see two Zachs, two Tylers, a Jo Jo and a Biss…

But no Goose.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell likes to get down. Feather your nest on 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.

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.

Will the Cats be more welcoming than the rest of the Pac-12?
Photo by Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE

Here come the new guys.

Over the next two weeks the Arizona Wildcats face both Utah and Colorado. With all three schools in the Pac-12 it’s going to be really awkward for New Mexico at the next Four Corners meeting.

For the Wildcats and Utes, the new guys are actually the old guys.

Read on for more about this ancient southwest football rivalry, but first take in the TWIT-Pac TV schedule (all times Arizona – and Pacific for one last week):

What is Fox Sports Arizona Plus? It is an event-only virtual channel that will be used only for events. Glad we got that straightened out.

The games, please!

USC (6-2 / 3-2) at Colorado (1-8 / 0-5)
Letdown game for USC? Last year the Trojans lost to Stanford by two…then won their next game by 34.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
USC. Keep the Buffaloes nice and Last Place.

Stanford (8-0 / 6-0) at OSU (2-6 / 2-3)
A triple-overtime win last week. The Oregon showdown next week. Could it be…?

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Stanford. Mike Riley‘s hot seat says to root for the Beavers, but let’s be real here.

WSU (3-5 / 1-4) at Cal (4-4 / 1-4)
The Pac-12 Hot Seat Game of the Week! These teams gave up a combined 74 points last time out.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Cal. Last week Rick Neuheisel added to his life bar. This week it’s Jeff Tedford’s turn to avoid hit points.

Utah (4-4 / 1-4) at ARIZONA (2-6 / 1-5)
This is already the Wildcats’ final Pac-12 home game. In case you forgot this is the worst home schedule ever.

ASU (6-2 / 4-1) at UCLA (4-4 / 3-2)
The Bruins are aiming for their first winning streak of the year.

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
UCLA. Keep Neuheisel employed! Keep ASU away from hosting the Pac-12 Championship Game!

Oregon (7-1 / 5-0) at Washington (6-2 / 4-1)
So I was eating a generic Ho Ho (known on the streets as a “Faux Ho”) and I said to myself, “This chocolate cake-like treat is exactly like the Oregon/Washington game. It doesn’t have the same price tag as Stanford/USC but it might be just as tasty.”

Who do Wildcat fans want to win?
Oregon. The Pac-12 needs Oregon/Stanford to be the West Coast’s version of Alabama/LSU.

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Arizona/Utah, on the other hand, is a battle of one-dimensional teams.

Arizona is 1st in the Pac-12 in passing offense; Utah is last. The Wildcats are 11th in the league in rushing offense; Utah ranks only 8th in the league in rushing but in the Utes’ four wins running back John White IV was a major factor. White averaged 175 yards rushing in those four games with no less than 150 in any of the victories. He ran for 205 yards last week against Oregon State as the Utes only needed 62 yards through the air.

The problem for the UA is Utah’s D is better suited to handle Arizona’s dimension (3rd in the Pac-12 in pass defense) than the Wildcat D is against Utah’s dimension (10th in rush defense). There is no room for dropped passes this week for the guys in Cardinal and Navy.

Besides old Pac-10 foes, Arizona has played Utah more often than anybody but New Mexico, UTEP, and New Mexico State. The Cats have actually faced the Utes more times than they’ve played USC and Oregon State.

Utah went 12-3-2 against the Wildcats from 1924 through 1960. The two programs then became charter members of the Western Athletic Conference when the league formed in 1962. Arizona turned the tables by posting a 9-4 head-to-head record in the WAC, including wins in the final five matchups. Utah can claim the craziest win though as the Utes’ final WAC victory over Arizona was the “Snafu of ’72.”

Following the UA’s move to the Pac-10 the old foes split six games (including Utah’s win in the 1994 Freedom Bowl) to give the Utes an overall edge of 19-15-2.

What do we make of Utah’s 1-4 start in the Pac-12? I do believe the Utes’ success (or lack thereof) will impact the perception of teams from non-automatic-qualifying conferences trying to play in the BCS national championship game. However, based on Utah’s past cycle of peak years you have to give them a few more seasons before using them as an argument that non-AQ teams don’t belong.

What do we make of this Saturday’s game? Don’t blow any 27-point leads.

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Scott Terrell is a fount of football advice. Drink it in on Twitter and Facebook.

Utah is about to make “what if” a reality.
Photo by Marvin Gentry-US PRESSWIRE

There are many college football debates that can never be settled.

Could Auburn have beaten USC in 2004? Was Herschel Walker better than Barry Sanders? Are Oregon’s uniforms hideous or genius?

There is one debate that is about to settled and it’s going to impact the national championship picture as long as the BCS remains.

What would happen if an elite “mid-major” team played a BCS conference schedule?

Since the 1998 birth of the Bowl Championship Series 11 teams from outside the six Automatic Qualifying conferences have finished the regular season undefeated but not one has played for the national championship. The argument has always been that if BCS-Buster X played in BCS Conference Y they’d have three or four losses.

Now we finally get the answer. Utah, welcome to the Pac-12. The whole college football world is watching.

The Utes went to (and won) two BCS bowl games as members of the Mountain West Conference. If they can do the same against a Pac-12 schedule it breaks down the final barrier for the so-called Non-Automatic Qualifying conferences.

It means Boise State can play for the national championship.

What will it take for Utah to make the case for its Non-AQ comrades? It’ll have to be something very close to what the Utes accomplished in the MWC. They went 12-0 under Urban Meyer in 2003 and 13-0 under Kyle Whittingham five years later. In between and since they haven’t missed a bowl game.

For the argument to work Utah needs to be competitive in the Pac-12 right away. If you give them a one-season cushion on the five-year cycle they need an elite season by 2014. How elite? It’ll have to be at least a 10-win regular season to keep the discussion going. Eleven wins or better would hammer the point home.

If, however, Utah ends up being nothing but a middle-of-the-Pac team the strength-of-schedule trump card will continue to be played ensuring the biggest trophy is always held up by a member of the power conferences.

What about TCU moving to the Big East? Don’t the Horned Frogs share some of this prove-you’re-still-great burden? The problem is the Big East hasn’t played for a national championship since Miami and Virginia Tech left. TCU will have an automatic BCS bid but they’ll still be viewed at the bottom of the totem pole beneath the other AQ champions.

That is, of course, unless Utah tears it up in the Pac-12.

One single program may seem to be too small a sample size but it’s all we’ve got. College football polls are already based on incomplete information. With so few games and even fewer heavyweight non-conference matchups voters have to look for any possible way to compare teams with vastly different schedules. Holding up Boise State, the new king of the MWC, next to Utah, the old king, is going to be a natural comparison.

The odd twist is the Utes themselves don’t care about any of this. They already have their golden ticket. If they win the Pac-12 they play in the Rose Bowl. If they go undefeated they play for a national championship. It doesn’t matter if it takes four years or 14 years or 40 years, Utah is set.

But Boise State cares. TCU also needs Utah to win. Interestingly enough, so does BYU. Any outsider program that wants its 12-0 record to be taken seriously needs the Utes to find big success in their new home.

On the other hand, the teams that have the most to gain if Utah fails are the members of the big six conferences, including the other 11 schools in the Pac-12. They don’t need an extra argument in favor of somebody from the Mountain West playing for a national championship. They don’t want two undefeated teams from Conference USA and the WAC claiming they both deserve BCS bowl bids in the same year.

The powers that be want to be able to say Utah beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl was a one-game fluke and now that they’re playing with the big boys week in and week out we won’t see them running the table for a long, long time.

The un-powers that be hope to be able to point to Utah as proof the football teams at the top of the Non-AQ leagues are just as strong as anyone else’s football teams, and just as worthy of playing for the crystal football.

The debate is almost over.

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Scott Terrell will be happily watching the Pac-12 South this year. Take a peek at Twitter and Facebook.