Game Preview: Washington @ Arizona

 

The Wildcats are up against the ropes desperately trying to avoid the knockout punch; which so many critics are waiting to fall. After a scare against Houston, the ‘Cats just might have the momentum and determination they need to go on an amazing second-half run to extend their current NCAA Tournament streak to 25. It will be no easy task, even at McKale Center, as they host Washington and their conference best 6-1 record.

Washington is for real, but their record may not be.

PAC-10 Picks: Week 5

NaterB’s Picks:

1. Arizona – goin’ with a bit of a homer pick, but also because the ‘Cats really need this one.
2. Arizona State – They’ll get what’s coming to them for that robbery of a call against Hill – but it won’t be against the Cougs.
3. USC – Stanford has no match for Gibson and Washington gets shut down by DeRozan.
4. UCLA – Gotta go with the home team here, but don’t be surprised if Cal wins this one.
5. Arizona – If there is one thing Arizona can do, it’s compete with teams that want to slow it down.
6. UCLA – This is a more interesting match-up than the UCLA/CAL game, but only because UCLA actually has an inside advantage against someone.
7. Washington – This isn’t what is coming to ASU, but they’ll get eaten up here.
8. OSU – Never would’ve saw myself picking the Beavers over the Ducks this year, but I can’t warrant making the other pick.
9. CAL – USC’s great defense vs. CAL’s great offense – I’m gonna go with CAL on this one – USC is too inconsistent to pick twice in one week.

The others: Only seven participants have submitted their votes at this time.

Washington 5 @ Arizona 2

Washington State 0, Arizona State 7

Stanford 0, USC 7

CAL 0, UCLA 7

Washington State 0, Arizona 7

Stanford 0, UCLA 7

Washington 5, Arizona 2

Oregon 4, Oregon State 3
CAL 6, USC 1

PAC-10 Week 5 Preview

Week Five Preview

Weekly Matchup’s:

Arizona schools host Washington Schools

Bay Area Schools travel to LA

Rivalry Matchup: Oregon Schools

 

What to watch for

CAL was impressing spectators nation wide until they lost to a less athletic, but more disciplined Oregon State team. They’ll get a good test this week in SoCal against the favorite for the P10 Championship: UCLA.

This game really intrigues me because we’ll get to see how good CAL really is and if they have the versatility to win some other way than behind the 3-point line.

 

Arizona is looking to build on the momentum and boost they received after their miraculous win against Houston. They have a tough task as they host the Huskies who sit on top of the conference standings – largely because of being at home for the majority of the first four weeks in conference play.

 

Last year OSU went 0-18 in conference play. Now they host their 0-8 rivals in hopes of pushing them along the winless streak that they’ve found themselves on. It’s speed and athleticism vs. determination and experience. My vote is on 0-9.

 

The second half of the week will feature Arizona State and Washington State as well – and it ought to be interesting to see how well Harden and Pendergraph can overcome the tempo and frontcourt of Washington.

Livengood’s Second Chance

The fate of Arizona’s future rests on the shoulders of an AD that by-and-large has been more of a program curator rather than director. His job has been simple, sit back and watch as the softball, swimming and diving, and men’s basketball programs have had perpetual success year after year. Unfortunately, when the time has arisen for him to step up and make some executive directives he is largely known for making mistakes. He botched the Dick Tomey situation and the football program didn’t sniff a bowl game for ten years. He made matters worse by rushing to sign the first coach he could – John Macovick – which turned out to be the biggest mistake of his time at Arizona thus far. It took him seven years to find a suitable coach to turn the baseball program around. And he’s gone through several women’s basketball coaches during his tenure at Arizona.

 

 

Livengood’s track record has improved recently though. After what may have been a decision to try and be quick and decisive in hiring Macovick, Livengood eventually turned things around under Mike Stoops. Livengood stood by his choice and allowed Stoops to gradually turn the program around until they reached their first bowl appearance in ten years. He’s furthered his stock with the hiring of Andy Lopez as the baseball coach. Arizona’s baseball program has seen continued competitiveness under Lopez and doesn’t look to stop anytime soon.