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Arizona Wildcats: 2019 Athletics New Year’s resolutions

By Shereen Rayan

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 26: Wilbur the Wildcat is seen before the Arizona Wildcats take on the Xavier Musketeers in the West Regional Semifinal of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Staples Center on March 26, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 26: Wilbur the Wildcat is seen before the Arizona Wildcats take on the Xavier Musketeers in the West Regional Semifinal of the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Staples Center on March 26, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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TUCSON, AZ – FEBRUARY 10: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats gestures during the first half of the college basketball game against the USC Trojans at McKale Center on February 10, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)
TUCSON, AZ – FEBRUARY 10: Head coach Sean Miller of the Arizona Wildcats gestures during the first half of the college basketball game against the USC Trojans at McKale Center on February 10, 2018 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) /

Resolution: Arizona Basketball will make the NCAA Tournament

Arizona has made the NCAA Basketball Tournament six consecutive seasons, 35 in all including two vacated spots. At 9-4, Arizona Basketball is ranked No. 3 in the Pac-12 behind 9-2 Arizona State (No. 1) and 9-3 Colorado Buffaloes (No. 2). Shocked? You would think with all the negativity out there in Wildcat nation the Cats were in last place. Adding context, ASU beat Kansas 80-76 and are now ranked No. 16 nationally by the Associated Press.

Oregon and Washington come in next at No. 4 and No. 5 tied at 8-4, followed by No. 6 Oregon State and No. 7 UCLA going into conference play. It’s tight, to say the least, one win can move you up a spot.

What we never predicted was that Arizona’s biggest challenge this year may be Bobby Hurley’s Sun Devils. Right now it’s looking like a January 31st and the last game of the season on March 9th in McKale will be two huge must-win games for Arizona. Not just because they are playing their rival, but because ASU is the lone Pac-12 team ranked by AP this season so far and it doesn’t look like beating any other team in the Pac-12 will launch Arizona’s ranking into the top 25.

It looks like another frustrating season for Sean Miller. Last season he seemed lost at how to get through to his team. There was a ton of drama. This season has had its share of drama, but not earth-shattering. ESPN has stopped, for the meantime, pushing the anti-Miller and anti-Arizona rhetoric.

This years team is finding their groove. Finally, Devonaire Doutrive is seeing playing time, and we hope Miller sees that keeping him on the bench because he is the 9th player in his rotation isn’t necessarily prudent. We say, play everyone, you never know who can provide a spark, and god knows sometimes this team needs a spark.

Now can we play zone defense, please??? Pretty please??? Begging here. It works against the Wildcats, so it will work against opponents. And no one will see it coming! The Cats cannot be so predictable. The football team suffered from predictability, we can’t have the same thing happen with the basketball team. Coaches have scouted our team, they know how the Cats play defense and have figured out how to stress them on every level.

The players want to win, the coaches want to win, and the fans, of course, want to win. It is conceivable that the team will be able to get a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Team Rankings is predicting that Arizona will end up with a 20-11 record (11-7 in the Pac-12), that the Cats will lose sieven conference games. They tell us that Arizona has a 16.4% chance to win the Pac-12 Tournament, and that is good because ASU comes in at No. 1 at 23.4%. So as it stands, they predict Arizona has a 50/50 chance to make the NCAA Tournament if they don’t win the Pac-12 Tournament.

Bracketology Projections by Team Rankings:
Make NCAA Tournament – 58%
Get Automatic NCAA Bid – 15%
Projected Seed (if Selected) – 8

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Currently, Brandon Randolph is leading the team with 16.62 points, Chase Jeter in rebounds with 7.00 rebounds, and Brandon Williams with 3.69 assists per game. On to Conference play! Arizona has a 72% chance of beating the Colorado Buffs on January 3rd according to Team Rankings. There is hope for the Wildcats to make the NCAA Tournament. Let’s hope some of these resolutions become reality!

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