Who will win the NCAA men’s basketball national championship?
Tim Kosch
sports writer
UNC will win it, but that isn’t the story here. All Final Four coaches – Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Tom Izzo, and Jim Calhoun – are rumored to be next on Jim Livengood’s “”short”” list for the UA job. If for some reason they don’t work out either, I have it on good authority that Michael Jordan is the next option, with Jerry Seinfeld, Peter Griffin, and the little girl from Punky Brewster as backups. Stay tuned.
North Carolina
Ari Wasserman
associate sports editor
It’s lot easier to pick the national champion when there are only four teams left in the tournament. That being said, the team I originally chose to win it all in my bracket was North Carolina, and I’m going to stick to my guns. The Tarheels are simply a step above the rest. I know it wasn’t a very good pick in terms of sleepers and research, but when I win my pool, it will feel just as good.
North Carolina
Bobby Stover
sports writer
This year’s tournament is not one that could be described as shocking by any means. There are no Cinderella teams in the Final Four. In fact, there isn’t even a team lower than a No. 3-seed present in Detroit, Mich. This trend is what leads me to believe there won’t be any earth-shattering stories surrounding this year’s championship. Michigan State has been coming on strong but Hasheem Thabeet and the Huskies are simply too strong.
Connecticut Huskies
How will softball do this weekend?
Tim Kosch
The Arizona softball program has been a model of consistency it what appears to be a dark time in the history of UA sports. The No. 9 Wildcats have three players currently on the Collegiate Softball Player of the Year watch list – Jenae Leles, Stacie Chambers and Brittany Lastrapes – and even though they have tough games against Washington and UCLA, they will win two out of three. Hey, maybe Mike Candrea can be the next men’s hoops coach.
2 wins, 1 loss
Ari Wasserman
When coming to the UA, I have to admit that I wasn’t fully aware of the success and tradition of the Arizona softball team. After heading to the Women’s College World Series two years ago, I finally got a glimpse of how exciting it could be. Then, last year I covered the team and finally found out how intense the team is and how solid the fan base is. Arizona will always be, in my mind, the best softball program in the Pacific 10 Conference.
Arizona Sweeps
Bobby Stover
By looking at the Pac-10 softball standings, it’s impossible to pick a clear favorite. Six of eight teams currently carry a winning percentage of .735 or higher, including Arizona’s two weekend opponents in Washington and UCLA. But Arizona is currently on a streak of 13 wins in 15 tries and is showing no signs of slowing down. Both opponents have two conference losses thus far and the Wildcats will add to that total.
2 wins, 1 loss
