The NCAA tournament is still about seven weeks away, but anticipation for March Madness is starting to build.
“At the end of the day, I can see Arizona being the No. 1 seed in the West,” said Seth Greenberg on the set at the Kentucky’s Rupp Arena, where Kansas and Kentucky will play tonight.
“I agree,” fellow analyst Jay Bilas said. “Arizona will be a No. 1 seed.”
The ESPN College GameDay crew is in Lexington, Ky., for the Kansas-Kentucky game tonight (ESPN screen shot)
Does that kind of talk mean anything now? No.
Is it a change in dialogue after so much emphasis was placed on Oregon and UCLA being the obvious best teams in the Pac-12 before Allonzo Trier’s return last week after a suspension for an illegal substance in his system? Yes.
And what about Gonzaga and Oregon, two equally as hot teams in the West as Arizona? The Bulldogs, 21-0 overall, defeated Arizona, albeit when the Wildcats did not have Trier and Parker Jackson-Cartwright (out then with a high ankle sprain).
The Ducks will have their say next Saturday when they host Arizona.
Welcome to the pressure Arizona.
“Arizona is ascending,” Bilas said. “They are emerging as a Final Four team.”
Sean Miller is known to challenge his team telling them big-time players thrive under pressure. The Wildcats are in that position to the highest degree now.
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
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