The Rivalry

There hasn’t been this much drama in the Arizona/Arizona State Rivalry since some audacious ASU fans’ horrendous chants towards Steve Kerr back in 1984. Yes, even more drama than last year when Arizona State seemed to turn the tables by sweeping the ‘Cats. More drama than in 1998 when Arizona left Tempe with a 1-point victory. More dramatic than when ASU won three straight between 1994 and 1995 – their longest during the Lute Olson era in Tucson – to which Arizona responded with 11-straight wins over the Sun Devils.

There have been some great match-ups, Ike Diogu vs. Channing Frye and Eddie House vs. Gilbert Arenas to name a couple. But something is different this year. Arizona State fans are ready to declare that the tables have turned in this rivalry and that they are now the premier team in the state. They’re nationally ranked, have a better record, an impressive road win at Pauley Pavilion and many other arguments to support their case.

Meanwhile, the Wildcats are in the midst of their rockiest two season with Lute Olson first taking a leave of absence followed by being forced to retire due to medical conditions. The ‘Cats had a fall-out with their 2008 recruiting class and have turned to searching for hidden talent to produce big performances.

These are all circumstances that perhaps won’t play out beyond this year after Harden departs from ASU and the Wildcats start to rebuild beginning in just a few months when they look to hire a premier head coach to replace Olson on a permanent basis. The Sun Devils will lose a majority of their talent (ie James Harden) after this year and will need to put together some solid recruiting classes if they truly want to turn the tables rather than just repeating their 3-rivalry-game win streak. The Wildcats future is more uncertain and will likely contain a few years of bumps and bruises, but with the right hire they should be able to keep history on their side and continue to dominate this rivalry again down the road.

Bloggin’ PAC-10

Alright, because of the Wednesday night game, I’m having to bump up a few of things to make sure that I get the Game Preview in a day early. So today I’ve already posted my Player of the Week Award, I’ve got the PAC-10 Blogs Check-in here, and hopefully I’ll have the Game Preview up first thing in the morning at the very latest.

National View

Brackettville ‘09 currently has five PAC-10 teams heading to the big dance in March. As expected, Arizona isn’t one of them. Check out who made the cut and where they’re projected to be heading at Brackettville ‘09.

Power Rankings

Power Rankings: Addicted to Quack has a weekly Power-Rankings poll over on SB Nation. Each week they receive votes, tally the votes and produce a very slick looking poll. Because it is a polled Power Rankings it has the ability to be less bias, but you’ll see some discrepancies from week to week. Check out Addicted to Quacks Power Ranking Poll. . The Coug Center is also a part of the SB Nation and you can see their ballot here.

Oregon

Addicted to Quack makes its second appearance on this week’s PAC-10 blog reviews. This time they’ve narrowed their focus and recapped the Oregon vs. Washington State game. Now, if you think that you’ve been hard on the Ducks, just wait. Sometimes the most avid fans make the toughest critics, and Addicted to Quack does just that.

On thing that has to come into question for the Ducks – which it has for many Ducks’ fans already – is how much longer can they tolerate Ernie Kent. Kent is the most tenured active coach in the PAC-10 today. Montgomery doesn’t count because he’s just getting back…. But you get the point. Anyhow, The Bleacher Report says that Ernie Kent’s clock is ticking – frankly, I think they’re right.