I’m heading west this weekend for the penultimate version of “The Student Section Supports”, where Arizona is in a situation where they probably need to win in order to completely kill off Oregon’s hopes, while saving their own at-large rear in the process.

When: Saturday, 10:30 ET. (ESPN2).

ARIZONA (18-12): The Wildcats have the toughest schedule in the country, but they’re as erratic as you can ever remember. How will the selection committee even seed this team? If The Tournament started today, I think I’d have them as a 10. They’ve got the talent to win the Pac-10 title, but even if they did that, I don’t think they deserve anything better than a 5.

Could win because…They’ve got better athletes than Oregon and sometimes that’s all it takes when you’re playing on adrenaline. Jerry Bayless is the best player on the floor and has shown an ability to take over for minutes at a time during games. If this one is close at the end, Bayless could be the X-factor.

Could lose because…Lute Olson has caused some distress around the team with his Kelvin Sampson-like behavior, calling the kids constantly. Is Kevin O’Neill losing control of this team? Are they riding on Chase Budinger’s helter-skelter play and Jerryd Bayless’ attempt to crack the NBA Lottery’s Top 10? How cohesive is this team?

OREGON (17-12): The Ducks were once very much in the driver’s seat to earn an at-large. That door has been gradually closing over the past month, so now they find themselves with another chances to rekindle Tournament thoughts. They’ve won their past two against Oregon State and Arizona State, but it’s still going to take at least two more wins for them to be in the discussion.

Could win because…They’re very similar to Arizona in terms of the statistics. Can Oregon, which generally has a great home-court advantage, take care of business against a team that continually cannot develop a killer instinct?

Could lose because…They’ve proven to be lacking in effort at times and may already be gassed. They’ve gone 5-5 over their past 10 and haven’t won three straight since a great win over Stanford on Jan. 13.

Friday, March 7th, 2008 @ 2:10 pm Student Section Supports
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