This past season has been one of the craziest seasons that I can remember for the Arizona basketball program.  Lute Olson came back to take over after a year off.  The staff was then either fired or quit.  Not too long after that, Lute Olson walked out the door and left this program in a state of turmoil.  So, who do you turn to?  A guy that was doing radio play-by-play for the Arizona State Sun Devils last year, that's who.

Russ Pennell basically had a team that revolved around three players and the rest were a hodge podge of guys that might combine for 20 points a night.  But, somehow, this team managed to defeat teams like Gonzaga and Kansas before the PAC-10 season started.  After finishing a decent 19-13 on the season, I figured the Wildcats were headed to the NIT and was pretty disgusted with the fact that after 24 straight tourney appearances, this was the season that would end that streak.  That didn't happen though, the selection committee was kind to them (and me) by putting Arizona in as one of the last teams in the field. 

As a 12 seed, they were matched up with Utah in the first round.  I've seen Utah play a few times this season and I knew that Arizona had a great chance to pull out this win.  But, being such a big fan of the Wildcats, some people doubted my opinion, biased or not!  In the end, Arizona marched on after a 13 point win over the Utes.  So what was to come next?  A showdown with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons Cleveland State Vikings?!?!

After Cleveland State upset Wake Forest (and my bracket), I texted Kelper with "Zona to the Sweet 16?"  His response was basically my thoughts...anything is possible.  True, anything is possible in the tournament.  That "anything" includes Arizona advancing past a scrappy Cleveland State team into the Sweet 16 to take on the Louisville Cardinals this Friday night, here in Indianapolis.

Any other year, I would have two separate brackets.  One would be my obligatory Arizona to the Final Four bracket and the other would be my "real" bracket.  This year, I did not make the second bracket, because I was just happy that the UofA made it into the tournament.  To actually see this team in the Sweet 16 is a great treat for this fan.

My brother has tickets for the games this weekend and I am going to go to a game with him.  He knows the importance of the Arizona game to me, so I hope that I will be there in person when the game tips at 7:07pm this Friday night.  What a great end to such a crazy season that would be for me.