Mike Bellotti after Oregon's victory over Oklahoma State in the 2008 Holiday Bowl. Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Wildcats’ season is winding down, and the coaching search buzz is heating up.

WildcatSportsReport.com, one of our partners in the TucsonCitizen.com Sports Network, posted two premium stories on its site Friday night — one regarding the pursuit of former Oregon coach Mike Bellotti and the other stating that Boise State coach Chris Petersen is not out of the picture.

In the case of Bellotti — who is believed to want to coach again after stepping down as the Ducks head coach in the spring of 2009 to become the school’s athletic director — things could move very quickly.

Bellotti, an analyst for ESPN since the start of last season, is helping to call Wisconsin’s game at Illinois on Saturday morning. If athletic director Greg Byrne moves on Bellotti, then an announcement could come quickly, within 48 hours of Saturday night’s game at Arizona State.

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Mike Bellotti after Oregon's victory over Oklahoma State in the 2008 Holiday Bowl. Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

There has been increasing chatter about Mike Bellotti in regard to the Arizona Wildcats football coaching search, but the former Oregon coach denied he is a candidate.

“There is nothing to this,” Bellotti told Ken Goe of the Oregonian on Thursday. “That is the easiest thing I can say.” Read the rest of the story at OregonLive.com.

Bellotti, 60, was 116-55 in 14 seasons as Oregon’s head coach before stepping down in March 2009 to become athletic director. He left that job a year later to become a college football analyst for ESPN.

Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne has, as promised, kept a fairly tight lid on any gossip about the coaching search. Byrne’s first target has been believed to be Boise State’s Chris Petersen; the two had a close relationship when both were at Oregon in the 1990s (as was Bellotti).

Byrne fired Mike Stoops on Oct. 10 after the Wildcats were off to a 1-5 start.

Boise State's Chris Petersen ... Arizona fans can dream, can't they? Photo by Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne says he won’t talk about the search for a head football coach until he is ready to make an announcement. In the meantime, everyone else will be speculating.

“In today’s world of instant information, a lot of times there is information that is inaccurate that gets out there. Sometimes, it’s accurate,” Byrne said.

“I want you to know that unless you’re hearing from us, and you’re hearing from me, that will be the only accurate information you can count on.”

Byrne, at the news conference Monday night to announce the dismissal of coach Mike Stoops, didn’t describe his ideal candidate. He didn’t say the new guy had to have head coaching experience, or had to be from the West, or had to be offensive-minded, for example.

At this point, Arizona is a moderately attractive job, certainly better than when Stoops was hired after the 2003 season.

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