Photo via @Greg_Byrne

The Arizona Wildcats previously only released an artist’s rendering of what their new copper helmet will look like. Athletic director Greg Byrne has an early version of the real thing, which he showed during his Google+ hangout on Friday morning.

After the live video chat (link to the replay), Byrne tweeted a picture of the copper helmet.

It’s not yet known which game, or games, Arizona will use its alternate helmet. Byrne said he has had discussions about which jersey combinations to use with the copper helmet, with the consensus being navy blue (good call, there).

The Wildcats also have blue and white helmets.

I asked coach Rich Rodriguez last month what he thought of the copper helmets.

“It was presented to me, and they wanted to know if I would be in favor of it. I said, ‘Sure,’” he said. “The copper industry has been important in the state of Arizona, and I thought it was a neat idea, a neat concept.”

Here is updated pic of copper helmet seen today on Google+ Hangout. Notice AZ State flag on front #AZisWildcatCountry campl.us/ksFy

— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) June 29, 2012

Rich Rodriguez enjoys being in a college town. Photo by Mark Evans, TucsonCitizen.com

University of Arizona football coach Rich Rodriguez sent baseball coach Andy Lopez a text message after the Wildcats won the first game of the College World Series last Sunday:

“That was a fundamental clinic.”

What football coach doesn’t like fundamentals, no matter the sport?

Rodriguez came out to show his support of the national championship-winning baseball team on Tuesday, along with nearly 5,100 fans who came out to McKale Center to celebrate the squad’s return from Omaha.

“What struck me,” Rodriguez said of the baseball team, “was how fundamentally sound they were. When they needed to advance the runner, they advanced the runner. When they got a double-play ball, they made the most of it. When they needed timely hitting, timely pitching, they got it. It was a fundamental clinic.”

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Mike Candrea appreciates how Andy Lopez revamped the culture of the baseball program. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

Arizona softball coach Mike Candrea, an ardent baseball fan who knows a few things about winning national championships, appreciated how the Wildcats went about winning the Men’s College World Series.

“Business-like,” Candrea said earlier this week at the on-campus celebration of the UA baseball team’s national title.

“You could kind of see it when they were in regionals, and then in Super Regionals; things were kind of rolling. It was just fun to watch because I never saw any panic. Just very business-like, under control, having fun. All the things that you want to see were there.

“They made it look easy.”

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Andy Lopez has been national coach of the year at three schools. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona baseball coach Andy Lopez, after leading the Wildcats to the national title earlier this week, has won national coach of the year honors from the Collegiate Baseball newspaper.

This is the third time he has won this award in his 30 seasons as a head coach, his first at Arizona. Collegiate Baseball previously tabbed Lopez with its top coaching honor in 1992 (when Lopez won the national title with Pepperdine) and in 1996, when he was the head coach at Florida.

Lopez is the second coach in NCAA history to win titles at two schools, joining Augie Garrido, who won with Cal State Fullerton (1979, 1984 and 1995) and Texas (2002 and 2005).

By guiding Arizona to its fourth championship at the College World Series, Lopez sets the record for most time elapsed between titles, breaking the mark of 11 years held by Garrido.

The Cats went 10-0 in the postseason, including a 5-0 mark at the World Series, when it swept South Carolina in two games in the championship series.

Lopez improved his career record to 1,090-664-7. He is 403-246-1 at Arizona.

Related:

Lopez: Let’s keep the fences at Hi Corbett right where they are

Hi Corbett felt like home for Arizona from this very first pitch of the season. Photo by Anthony Gimino, TucsonCitizen.com

The original plan for the Arizona Wildcats’ first season as a full-time tenant of Hi Corbett was to move in the outfield fences at the spacious former home of major-league spring training and Triple-A baseball.

Turns out, there wasn’t enough time to make that change, as the city wasn’t able to evict the stadium’s former tenant, the Tucson Toros, until reaching a settlement in late November.

While the university hurried to remake the clubhouse and offices, transplant the scoreboard and make cosmetic changes before the start of the season in February, the fences had to stay where they were for 2012.

Regarding the fences in 2013 …

“You know what?” coach Andy Lopez told TucsonCitizen.com after Arizona’s national championship celebration at McKale Center on Tuesday. “We need to keep them right where they’re at.”

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This trophy was worth 100 points in the Directors' Cup for Arizona. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Arizona, having received 100 points for winning the Men’s College World Series — the final NCAA championship of the school year — finished 19th nationally in an all-sport rating of athletic departments.

This is the Wildcats’ second consecutive Top 20 finish in the Learfield Sports Director’s Cup, which has been in existence since the 1993-94 school year.

Stanford, which was second to North Carolina in the first year of the rankings, has won in every season since then, 18 in a row.

The Cardinal, which won national titles in women’s soccer, women’s water polo and women’s lightweight rowing eight, finished with 1,448.25 points. Florida was second with 1,314 points.

Arizona finished fifth among Pac-12 programs behind Stanford, No. 3 UCLA, No. 7 USC and No. 11 Cal. Oregon, at No. 24, was a sixth Pac-12 school in the Top 25. Arizona State was 30th.

Arizona had 827.25 points, not far behind No. 18 Georgia (833.25). Arkansas, which was third at the CWS, was nipping at UA’s heels, finishing with 811 points to claim the No. 20 spot.

The Directors’ Cup standings includes the top finishes in the NCAA postseason for a department’s top 10 men’s and top 10 women’s programs. One hundred points are awarded for an NCAA title, with a minimum of five points given to an NCAA appearance, depending on the size of the bracket. For football, points are awarded based on the final USA Today Top 25 poll and bowl game results.

Arizona failed for the first time in the Directors’ Cup to get any points from the two biggest sports — football and men’s basketball. Those sports combined for 98 points in the previous school year for the basketball’s team appearance in the West Regional final and the football team’s bowl appearance.

This year, in addition to the baseball title, the Wildcats scored well with men’s and women’s swimming (top five finishes in each), indoor and outdoor men’s and women’s track and field, and a Super Regional appearance for softball, among other sports.

Arizona was 16th in the 2010-11 school year, its first season under athletic director Greg Byrne. The Wildcats had not been in the Top 20 in the previous four seasons, so the overall program appears to be headed in the right direction as it tries to get back to its 1990s’ heyday.

Kurt Heyer in a T-shirt that athletic director Greg Byrne made a point to tell the crowd will go on sale Wednesday (on-line and in shops).

The national championship Arizona Wildcats baseball team arrived via bus at McKale Center, greeted by a water salute from the Tucson Fire Department.

The Wildcats departed the bus wearing their “Arizona Owns Omaha” T-shirts, capturing the moment with their own video cameras as fans snapped photos and chanted “U of A, U of A.”

The Cats made their way to the north side of McKale, entering, fittingly enough, through the Hall of Champions, eventually appearing inside, national championship trophy held aloft.

About 17 hours after defeating South Carolina 4-1 in Omaha to win the College World Series, the Arizona baseball team celebrated its fourth national championship, its first since 1986, with slightly more than 5,000 fans.

“Caught me completely off guard,” coach Andy Lopez said of the reception.

“I told my wife, ‘We’ll get here, there will be about 1,000 people, it will be 15, 30 minutes, we’ll go back and get a bite to eat.’ Oh ye of little faith, right?

“So, to the city of Tucson, I apologize. Please forgive me. … Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

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The Wildcats raise the trophy after beating South Carolina 4-1. Photo by Bruce Thorson-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona Wildcats coach Andy Lopez has said he knew. He knew in the preseason that this team, his 11th at UA, could be special.

Arizona would have to stay healthy, of course. It would have to get into the right regional — meaning it would be nice to play at home in the postseason. The Cats would have to catch some breaks, do the right things at the right time like all championship teams must … but these guys had a chance.

And when it was all over, when the Wildcats had finished with a 10-0 record in the postseason, after they had never trailed at the College World Series, after the players doused Lopez with ice water during his ESPN interview, after a long on-field hug with his wife, Lopez found the perfect words to describe why he had that special feeling more than five months ago.

“When your best players are your best human beings, it’s going to be a good year,” Lopez said after Arizona beat South Carolina 4-1 in Omaha on Monday night.

“It’s been a great year for us because my best players are my best human beings. … And that’s a real deadly combination when you suit up as a team.”

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Worth a thousand words …

The Arizona Wildcats pose for a team photograph with the national championship trophy after a 4-1 win over South Carolina. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

THANK YOU EVERYONE! NATIONAL CHAMPS!!!!!!

— Coach Andy Lopez (@CoachAndyLopez) June 26, 2012

Coach Andy Lopez and athletic director Greg Byrne hold the trophy signifying the university's 18th national championship. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team defeated South Carolina 4-1 on Monday night to win its fourth College World Series and the 18th NCAA title in the history of the athletic department.

Players such as Alex Mejia, Kurt Heyer, Robert Refsnyder, Konner Wade and Johnny Field now join some other illustrious names who left UA as national champions:

Terry Francona, Jennie Finch, Marisa Baena, Mike Bibby, Ron Hassey, Susie Parra, Leah O’Brien, Jim Furyk, Gil Heredia, Miles Simon, Lacey Nymeyer, Jenny Dalton …

Arizona’s first NCAA championship in any sport came in 1976.

Here is a look at the previous Arizona champs:

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