Bear Down Wildcats

TheCatInTheHat

Over the years, Colorado players come and go, but whoever wears their uniform always gets chippy with Arizona players. I wonder what the constant is there?

TheCatInTheHat

UCLA fans are desperate to save face with a big name. I'm waiting to hear the next supposed "rumor" about Bill Belichick, Nick Saban, or Vince Lombardi. Meanwhile, Brennan should be reviewing their roster: Jaylin Davies, Keanu Williams, etc.

TheCatInTheHat

There's a typical arrogance and whistling past the graveyard thing among UCLA fans that they can grab coaches or QBs easily. They're completely fucked, and that job is officially marked as career-limiting. They're not making the NCAA hoops tourney, they're about to hemorrhage football players in the...

TheCatInTheHat

The RBs are great. Durham and Darton may be more in the "OKG" category, but at least this staff isn't trying to rely on a freshman recruiting class to fill the transfer portal gaps of physically mature players we've lost.

TheCatInTheHat

With the addition of Quali Conley now official, we should be okay at RB. Now we could use more transfer DL types.

TheCatInTheHat

The Big XII's bowl games are currently (without the bowl sponsor names): CFP/New Year's Six San Antonio (Alamodome) Orlando (Camping World Stadium - XFL) Houston (NRG Stadium) Memphis (Liberty Stadium) Phoenix (Chase Field) Ft Worth (TCU)/Dallas (SMU) on alternating year basis Shreveport (Independen...

TheCatInTheHat

Almost certainly not, although IIRC, the ACC pays refs more than anybody else, with presumably a better result. I'll also mention that in our women's game against ASU Sunday, there was a ref named Anita Ortega, who I don't recall seeing much previously. She showed impressive presence and judgment. S...

TheCatInTheHat

I'm sure many Arizona fans would have watched Kansas/KSU as a great game on a night with not much else on. But I still get the feeling there's more of an approach of keeping up with what's going on in the Big XII as we move toward it than there was previously. My takeaways are: 1) Beyond the expecte...

TheCatInTheHat

Brennan may prefer a lower-key approach to recruiting than the social media blitz Fisch used. Presumably, potential starters Quali Conley and Tre Smith from SJSU are enrolled at Arizona, but I don't recall any formal announcements. Maybe they don't have that kind of thing organized yet, but Fisch di...

TheCatInTheHat

Utah has some similarities to Stanford, with an experienced team with size that can shoot the three. Non-conference, they went 1-2 at a tournament in South Carolina, with a win over Wake Forest and losses to Houston and St. John's. They won at St. Mary's and beat BYU in Salt Lake. In the Pac-12, the...

TheCatInTheHat

The Boston College job is also open, but it would also clearly be a "jump before you're pushed" move. And, if Kelly just isn't wired for the necessary glad-handing and recruiting of a college HC, I get the impression he'd be relieved to be an NFL OC. Sit in your office working on game plan Xs and Os...

TheCatInTheHat

IIRC, this guy (de-committed/hit the portal/whatever) a while ago. It almost amounts to a footnote that he did the expected and followed Fisch to Washington, versus going someplace else. Unless the guy actually looked around a little, it kind of looks like Fisch is spreading the announcements out fo...

TheCatInTheHat

As we know, Stanford's got a whole team of 6-9 senior forwards, and only one of their top 8 scorers shoots under 33% from 3 point range. Kind of a Jekyll & Hyde team. They started out in non-conference play losing at home to Santa Clara, losing on the road to San Diego State, and losing all three ga...

TheCatInTheHat

With a 20 point second half lead, it wasn't that big a deal. But kind of classic that the problem originated in San Ramon where they're down to a skeleton crew for staffing. That may or may not have had anything to do with it, but it also may foreshadow more "technical difficulties" down the stretch...

TheCatInTheHat

ASu is expected to agree with the NCAA findings regarding the recruiting violations that occurred during COVID. https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/arizona-state-making-progress-in-negotiated-resolution-with-ncaa-over-alleged-recruiting-violations/ Not sure what this means for future pe...

TheCatInTheHat

They do seem to be out there and hitting it hard, but what's visible are high school visits, which won't likely provide any immediate help. The 24/7 crystal ball has SJSU's RB Quali Conley and DE Tre Smith coming here, but not sure who else we'd want from there, and I doubt Brennan wants to do to th...

TheCatInTheHat

We lost a great S&C guy, no doubt. Hopefully the new guy will be good. I do think it's important to note that one aspect of avoiding injuries is to rotate people in so they stay fresh. With our depth last year, we were able to do that more than just about any time I can remember.

TheCatInTheHat

It's a favorable schedule. I penciled it out at 7-5, reflective of a new coaching staff and a lack of depth on defense at this point. If we can bring in 4 or 5 significant defensive guys from the portal, I might bump it up to 8.

TheCatInTheHat

I'm also looking forward to being able to step down a tier in the next few months and say adios to the Pac-12 nets. Guess we'll all have to reacquaint ourselves with streaming the more obscure contests, if we really care about them, rather than casually flipping them on until they typically become b...

TheCatInTheHat

Understandably with a new coaching staff, Cal got off to a horrible start this season, losing at home to Pacific and Montana St, and neutral court games to UTEP, Tulane, and San Diego St. They beat Santa Clara at home, before a 2-OT loss at Butler and another neutral court loss to Ole Miss. In the P...

TheCatInTheHat

We've still got roadies at the Mountain schools, ASU, and the LA schools. We're not getting out of that unscathed, and there may even be some who don't like the idea of our going undefeated at home in our last Pac-12 season. So I know we've got fans who "refuse to accept losing", but you have to be ...

TheCatInTheHat

I'm enjoying the progression of the detachment process from the Pac-12. There were issues from the beginning. Kingmakers USC and UCLA wanted us in, with the idea that they'd eventually be able to force out WSU and OSU for a new Pac-8. Ironically, both of those schools went along with them, along wit...

TheCatInTheHat

Ugliest/stupidest floor in college basketball, brainwashed/a-hole/big-mouthed fans in their little bubble, God-awful lemon-lime colors, and cheerleaders who need tanning salon memberships. I'd like to say how much I'll miss their shit, but nothing's coming to me.

TheCatInTheHat

In early neutral court games, Oregon beat Georgia, then lost to Santa Clara, Alabama, and Syracuse. At home, they're undefeated, with a non-conference win over Michigan, sweeping the LA schools, and beating Cal and ASU. On the road, they swept the Washingtons, but just got swept at the Mountain scho...

TheCatInTheHat

One item is servicing the debt on facilities projects. Fisch remodeled Lowell-Stevens when it was less than ten years old. Some things are covered by fund-raising, but a lot of time that seems to be seed money and then they issue bonds for the rest. They had to re-do the pool and various other thing...

TheCatInTheHat

There are always multiple seasons within each season. If you record one of those early season made-for-TV matchups and compare to a late season game, there are usually obvious differences. We've often been a little better early than a lot of teams we play non-conference, so there's a bit of over-inf...

TheCatInTheHat

I don't know about anybody else, but having watched this stuff for more decades than I'd care to admit, that's one hell of a coaching staff under Brennan. Two former head coaches, the well-respected Duane Akina, a number of coaches in the same role they had at San Jose, some up-and-coming young bloo...

TheCatInTheHat

At San Jose, Brennan had OL coach Oglesby as his "running game coordinator" and his WR coach (who stayed at San Jose) was his "passing game coordinator." So, I'd guess Brennan does the overall play-calling, as Fisch did? Not sure what role coordinators play in that kind of set-up, but he's got Ogles...

TheCatInTheHat

Regarding the AD search. No sitting AD from the Big Ten or SEC would likely touch it, and it's debatable what sitting AD would be available or affordable from the Big XII or ACC. So unless we're bringing somebody up from the MWC or a situation like Heeke from the MAC, I'd think it should be about th...

TheCatInTheHat

I believe he hit the transfer portal, then un-hit it. At least I hope I'm right.

TheCatInTheHat

Yeah, also sadly true. I'm assuming Brayden Dorman's the backup. Is Cole Tannenbaum not on scholarship? Regardless, as good as Noah is, he's small and wears a target. He's compact and seems to protect himself fairly well, but if somebody really wants to go helmet-to-helmet, body slam, or if he just ...

TheCatInTheHat

D-Line depth is a legitimate concern. I've got Bill Norton (6-6 325), Chubba Maae (6-2 345), Isaiah Johnson (6-1 300), Taitai Uigalelei (6-4 285), and Keanu Mailoto (6-4 275). We also have Isaiah Ward, Sterling Lane, and Russell Davis as tall edge rushers in the 210 to 220 lb range. There's freshman...

TheCatInTheHat

Weakest move I can imagine is to lose somewhere, and then go with the sour grapes smear of their fans. It's the "well, at least OUR fans have some class" play. It's bullshit. Our fans don't bend over or take shit from anybody, but they're typical run-of-the-mill enthusiastic fans. Sorry UCLA's fans ...

TheCatInTheHat

The second game at Oregon figures to be pretty rough. While they just got swept at the Mountain schools, the Ducks are undefeated at home with wins over Michigan and both LA schools. As to the Beavers, this is one of the road games we should, and need to, win. They're 9-9/1-6, with one win over USC ...

TheCatInTheHat

Saw some memorable games discussed leading up to yesterday, but not the final tally. So UCLA went 20-25 in Pac games at McKale Center. We went 1-5 until Lute got settled, and it was 15-24 after that. We won the first game and the last three.

TheCatInTheHat

He is such a penis. The only reason it was a "clean game" is that the refs weren't calling UCLA for all their crap in the first half. So he yaps non-stop to work the refs all game and also tries to control the post-game narrative, which certainly works with the LA fanboy media. Can you imagine what ...

TheCatInTheHat

I don't know where to slot the UCLA game in historical perspective. I think we expected to win comfortably against a non-vintage Bruin team with a losing record, and were just fine with settling in for a satisfying win. And maybe, way deep in the back of our minds, a little concerned to make sure we...

TheCatInTheHat

Two cops right there as UCLA leaves the court witnessing the whole thing and looking bored and unimpressed by mild heckling from an actual (gasp!) student section sequestered behind a barricade. I recall watching their coaches in an altercation with a fan in Vegas last year after we beat them. There...

TheCatInTheHat

UCLA's a great school to say you have a degree from (athletics asterisk), and it's got a pretty nice campus (a little too hilly for me), but I sure wouldn't want a kid to play for Cronin. The technical he got was for "F*** you. F*** yourself, motherf***er" to the ref after Stefanovic got a shot bloc...

TheCatInTheHat

I once ran into a brick wall Not making that mistake again LOL...I learned something from a guy who worked on my house in Tucson who also worked for a big construction company. They'd put rebar in the gaps of block walls for the inspector to see, who assumed they'd then fill with concrete. After pa...

TheCatInTheHat

Recall reading one time about the John Wooden era when UA came to LA. Wooden didn't even scout Arizona, he just had his players show up. Shows how much the game has changed. Now every team even scouts exhibition opponents. Really a different era. UCLA played at the old Sports Arena. Is that before ...

TheCatInTheHat

Recall reading one time about the John Wooden era when UA came to LA. Wooden didn't even scout Arizona, he just had his players show up. Shows how much the game has changed. Now every team even scouts exhibition opponents. Really a different era. UCLA played at the old Sports Arena. https://i.imgur...

TheCatInTheHat

To the dustbin of history. We also had a pretty good rivalry with UNLV and Tark, but they eventually fizzled out. Nothing lasts forever. Memories and history are nice, but in the here and now, I'd say the rivalry with Kansas will nicely take the place of UCLA. Any two schools who want to set up a lo...

TheCatInTheHat

Some may chalk this up to "all's fair in love, war, and basketball", but I thought this was particularly cheesy by Hurley. Adem Bona is notorious for foul trouble. Midway through the first half, his man paused on the baseline, then full-out sprinted to the FT line, as though he might receive a pass ...

TheCatInTheHat

Kind of hard to believe UCLA is in this situation. They're playing lots of freshmen and sophomores, which is on Cronin, but historically "UCLA Good" freshmen and sophomores would be mulling over pro options, which is not the case. Non-conference, they started out with two losses in Hawaii to Marquet...

TheCatInTheHat

Regarding recruiting. As noted earlier, he almost sounded like he thinks he has a pat hand going into spring ball. But, we keep bleeding players into the portal. Right now we're hurting for CBs and for a big RB, at a minimum. I realize the portal's mostly closed, but to steal a line from The Princes...

TheCatInTheHat

With luck, the cards have now finally been sufficiently shuffled, and we're full speed ahead...

TheCatInTheHat

USC's got a core of seniors, led by Boogie Ellis. In terms of talent, they're big, athletic, and deep. But, even when healthy, they've been a disappointment. And they're not particularly healthy. Freshman star Isaiah Collier is out with a hand injury until next month. Ellis is supposedly questionabl...

TheCatInTheHat

Great news about Coach Akina. The only thing I didn't like was his answer to the last question about how he's approaching recruiting in the near-term. He said with earlier signing day that's kind of complete, and everyone's so focused on the portal that there are great unrecruited HS players, and he...

TheCatInTheHat

I honestly don't recall if I was more of a Brennan or a Fisch lean three years ago. For Fisch, the NFL stuff sounded good, but you knew he was a short-term mercenary, while Brennan was not sexy, but was the safer and more traditional pick. It seemed like a coin-flip then. It's possible that Fisch's ...

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