The Wildcats were scrambling to comeback in the final minute, when Kyle Fogg snagged a loose ball off a missed free throw and tied the score with 25 seconds left. It was a chaotic moment for the freshman, so he can sort of be forgiven for fouling immediately after the inbound pass even though his team didn't need it. And hey, UAB missed the one-and-one, so Arizona got it back with no shot clock and a chance to win. It's all good!

But when Arizona missed their shot attempt and UAB got the rebound 70 feet from their basket with one second left, it probably didn't make sense for Wildcat forward Jamelle Horne to grab the jersey of Blazer Paul Delany ... and earn an intentional foul call with 0.8 seconds left on the clock. They lost by one.

We're not saying that this is some sort of metaphor for the disarray and chaos that has consumed the Arizona program this season—because it's not a really a metaphor. They need some help.

By the way, so does Stephen Curry because kid was straight ballin' last night (who let Stu Scott in here?), but his 44 points were not enough to beat No. 12 Oklahoma. It's going to be pretty hard for Davidson to shake the perception that they're nothing but a one-man gang, but ... they're a one-man gang. Curry's tournament run last year was obviously not a fluke, but without some more points from his teammates, they're going to see a lot more games like this when they play good teams.

Late Fouls Doom 'Cats [Daily Wildcat]
Gimino: 'Sting' of defeat may bring UA together [Tucson Citizen]
Davidson's Curry scores 44 in loss [Charlotte Observer]

On October 23—the day Olson announced his retirement—Christine Olson showed up at the office of Dr. Steven Knope, Lute's physician and the man who would later reveal that the coach had a stroke within the last year. She had called the office three times that day asking to speak to Knope, but had been denied, and after waiting in the reception area for 20 minutes, she stormed into his empty office and left behind a little present. It was a paper outline of a human body used for target practice at a shooting range. Oh, and this one had 25 bullet holes in it.

Needless to say, Knope has gone all "restraining order" on Christine Olson, who has claimed in the past that Knope "destroyed her marriage." How that might have gone down is anybody's guess, but we think that whatever problems may exist between these good people, they aren't going to be settled over a quiet cup of coffee. Or a fun day out at the gun range.

"Lute's doctor gets restraining order against coach's ex-wife" [Arizona Daily Star]

At the moment, Arizona has no coach. Associate head coach Mike Dunlap has been offered the "interim" gig, but said he has to sleep on it, which probably means that if he can find a better option in the next 24 hours he'll take it. Any recruits they're pursing certainly have to be re-evaluating their position and no one with a sane choice is going to commit until a permanent replacement is found. The botched announcement also made his university look foolish, since spokespeople were forced to deny the report all day long simply because no one bothered to tell them the truth.

If Dunlap turns them down—and he very well might, he's only been at the school since April and has no ties there—their options get real thin, real quick. The ranking assistant is former Wildcat Reggie Geary, who has been on the staff for one year. No established coach is going to run out on his own program this late into October. In other words, this is the kind of thing that dooms programs. Despite all their success under Olson—their streak of 24 straight tournament appearances may be in jeopardy—without the right move now, basketball at Arizona could be set back a decade.

And if that wasn't bad enough, Midnight Lute is a shaky 7/2 in tomorrow's Breeder's Cup Sprint and hasn't won a race in a over a year. Maybe they'll both need to be taken out back and shot.

Olson and others haven't grasped the art of the exit [ESPN]
Lute Lives On in Horse Racing.....Probably [Storming The Floor]
[Photo: AP]

UPDATE: Dunlap has turned down the offer and the interim job will go to first-year Arizona assistant Russ Pennell, who will run the team for the '08-'09 season. Good luck with that, Russ. [Rivals]

Olson has not been seen or heard from today, but the fathers of two highly touted Arizona recruits told the Arizona Daily Star that assistant coaches confirmed the decision to them today. ESPN hasn't wavered from their story one bit and Jason Gershon of the Arizona Rivals.com site says he has confirmation as well, and that at least one of those recruits will be pulling his commitment for now. We assume the rest of the Arizona community will be informed during half-time of the home opener, when Kevin O'Neill will be called out to center court for a ceremonial pantsing by the Olson family.

• LUTE OLSON RETIREMENT CONFIRMED (Updated) [Arizona Star Daily]
• Go AZ Cats [Rivals]
• Lute Olson’s Legacy [Rush The Court]
Thanks to Storming the Floor for their help on this story.

• Olson misses practice, annual Rotary luncheon [Arizona Daily Star]

That honor belonged to Lute Olson's third biggest mistake, Chris Dunn (behind Kevin O'Neill and remarrying). The lanky (terrifyingly skinny) wing was a high school star at Hobbs in New Mexico before failing out of Arizona while redshirting. Dunn attempted to keep his career alive by transferring a few miles down the street to Pima Community College (Go Aztecs!). Eventually Dunn's long frame disappeared from Tucson, apparently bound for another community college back home in New Mexico.

All that was left of Dunn's career as a Wildcat was this beautiful diamond ring, and now it belongs to "gotchampionshiprings" (Shark, is that you?) for the bargain basement price of $860.

2003 ARIZONA PAC 10 GOLD CHAMPIONSHIP BASKETBALL RING

via GoAZCats, which has crashed under the tremendous weight of Chase Budinger's announcement to return for his junior season.

"I said, 'Do you want to be an assistant for three more years or five more years? He said, 'No.'"

Olson's 48-minute press conference was reportedly stand-offish, blunt and a little confrontational as the media attempted to get some answers about why exactly the coach needed to take off so much time:

Frankly, even though I realize I'm a public figure, I don't think I need to go into every nuance of my private life. There were things going on in my life that did create some health issues that I needed time to address. But it was not a health scare."

Um, you kind of do, coach. Not every nuance, but perhaps you could offer a little bit of self-deprecation or enthusiasm toward the media and the fanbase that respectfully backed off of your ugly marital turmoil the whole time you were having your end-of-life crisis. And even though the coach said yesterday that he's "excited" to be back (but didn't act like it ), the only question really left to answer is this: Is Arizona excited to have him back?

'Zona's Olson Spars With Media [SI]
Olson: O'Neill Out [Wildcat Online]

WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS

1. Next Year, Buy Us Presents. West Virginia has played 99 illustrious years of basketball, compiling an impressive 61.4 percent winning percentage and a trip to the 1959 NCAA title game. WVU hasn't been as lucky with several opponents, however, owning overall losing records against Steubenville Athletic Club, Smith Skating Rink and the Parkersburg (W.Va.) YMCA. Though, in our defense, both losses to the Parkersburg YMCA came on the road.

2. He Can't Run For President. Over the last six games of the season, junior forward Joe Alexander torched opponents for 26.8 points per game. He was also named First Team All Big East. Alexander, despite having American parents, was born in Taiwan and lived eight years abroad while his father worked for Nestle. After some research, it seems Alexander is already the most successful Taiwanese basketball player in history, just besting Yulon veteran Chen Hsin-an.

2. Lutey Patooty. Lute Olson isn't coaching this year because he's traveling through the big D and doesn't mean Dallas. Olson has brought the Wildcats to the big dance 23 straight years, the longest active streak in the NCAA, but won't be on hand to see them shuffling their feet this year. His divorce from Christine has sidelined the 73-year-old coach for the season, with interim Kevin O'Neill taking over for those Silver Locks. The strangest part about it all - when his wife Bobbi died in 2001 Olson only missed six games, coming back to lead the Wildcats to his fourth Final Four.

3. Freshman Phenom. If you didn't know, Jerryd Bayless is good. He's Eric Gordon with the ability to finish. He's D.J. Augustin with a tremendous amount of confidence. He's Tyler Hansborough but shorter and not as much a center. The Phoenix native is averaging 21 points a game at 47 percent shooting. Bayless is a one-and-done candidate, already making waves in pre-draft boards that have him as high as the fifth pick to the New York Knicks (stay another year Jerryd!). The Wildcats are 11-4 when Bayless scores 20 or more points and struggled to a 1-3 record when Bayless was injured in the middle of the season. —Shane Bacon.

The As the USC blog All Things Trojan points out, Arizona head coach Kevin O'Neill did everything to try and prevent events like this. He made a video ... he tried everything!

Not only is throwing a water bottle onto the court dumb in a general setting, it's downright suicidal in Tucson, Arizona. Imagine if Minnesota fan chucked a parka toward halfcourt. (This is, of course, imagining that a Minnesotan has the ability to be a dick.) Either way you're gonna need that item to survive in the harsh, unforgiving elements. Which is why you never see Duke fans try and hit the opposing team's players with their trust fund.

..what? Oh, right, the video:

Stay Classy, Tucson [LA Times/All Things Trojan]

At the end of the double overtime game, they had only two players on the court.

The Wildcats suited up just six players, watched their 16-point second-half lead disappear and had four players foul out before losing 94-88 to Oregon State at Gill Coliseum.

This is the best part: They had a 16-point lead! They played with only four players in the first overtime and actually built a six-point lead until Oregon State tied it up. Then two more players fouled out in the second overtime. And Oregon State still only won by six. If anyone has any video of the five Oregon State players taking on the two Arizona players, we would absolutely love to see it.

Wildcats End Game With Two On Court [Arizona Daily Star]

One day after announcing that his leave of absence has extended throughout the 2007-08 basketball season, UA head coach Lute Olson has filed for divorce from his wife, Christine Torretti.

According to reports in the Arizona Daily Star and Tucson Citizen, the divorce was filed on Thursday in the Pima County Superior Court and it marks the end of a marriage that began in April of 2003.

Arizona's players and commitments were notified of the divorce on Thursday night before the team departed from Phoenix to Chicago for the Wildcats' game against Illinois on Dec. 8.

Lute's personal life has always been quite public in Tucson, and his relationship with Christine has been no exception. I find it odd that a divorce would force someone to take off an entire season, they are fairly common after all. Regardless, the Wildcats program is in good shape with or without the official campus Grandpa. Kevin O'Neill might be the perfect coach for this supremely talented roster. Hell, they'll probably be better off come March.

Fortunately Lute's family life hasn't been a cause of concern for Arizona's current recruiting class. None are expected to budge from their commitments, which is good, because Brandon Jennings is quite possibly the best high school player on the planet. Oak Hill's star point guard dropped 45 points on Booker T. Washington earlier this week. So when Lute comes back next season, he'll be coming back to this...

GOAZCats

So, how does the shuffle play out? Well, assuming LSU doesn't lose in the SEC title game, they're in. Which means the other BCS slot should be filled by whoever escapes the Big 12 scrum. If it's Missouri, that could also mean Chase Daniel moves into the Heisman leader; if it's not, it's Tebow fever. For all the talk of rivalry week starting tomorrow, the real college football news came last night. Chaos is fun.

Oregon Falls At Arizona [Rivals.com]

"I've given 110 percent to this team and this job," Olson said through his wife Christine's press personnel. "In light of this personal matter, I feel it is in the best interest of the team and the University of Arizona to take a leave of absence."
At a news conference Sunday, Arizona Athletic Director Jim Livengood confirmed it was not a health-related issue, repeating that it was a personal issue. Olson has asked for his family's privacy, and Livengood and O'Neill have asked the media to respect those wishes.

It's pretty obvious that it would take something of great significance to pull Coach Olson away from his team, especially with the season getting underway. The last time the Hall of Famer missed significant time was back in 2001, when Olson lost his wife Bobbi to cancer.

Newly imported assistant coach Kevin O'Neil will take over the program until Olson can return. O'Neil is best known as the former head coach of the Toronto Raptors (they're like an NBA team only they play in Canada) and an assistant with the Pacers and Knicks. The suspected Canadian was brought in to be the heir apparent to Olson's kingdom, but now he's going to have to pick things up as he goes. The roster is stacked with talent and assistant coach Josh Pastner has an intimate familiarity with all things Arizona basketball.

It's also worth noting that Olson's grandson, and former walk-on, Matt Brase is a member of the coaching staff.

PLEASE do me a big favor and beat tennesse they are sooo hard to look at...lol. Monica Abbot belongs on a farm...as a horse....haha. and the third basemen...dont even get me started with her hair...haha everytime she goes on the screen i laugh and say DIKE! okay okay...i wont be too mean...lol.

LOL, indeed! By the way, if you're like Sebastien Gacond and like to have sex with women, you might note that Ms. Mowatt is attractive.

Hottie Purrrr Kats Hurler Shuts Out Lady Vols for Championship [Mac Gs World]
Tarnye Mowatt MySpace [MySpace]
Guess The U of A Softball Player! [The Big Lead]

ARIZONA WILDCATS

1. Stretch Marks. The 2006-2007 season has resembled that of a young Alpha Phi freshman, heading to Tucson after a long summer of working out and tanning in the sun. Sure, she looks great when college begins, but five months of drinking any possible liquid (Everclear, YUMMY!) and ordering Domino's on her Cat Card has lead to a larger ass and a sudden case of college acne. Arizona begins the year 12-1 before dropping eight of the next 16 games, including six of eight during a stretch in January.

2. Deja Vu? Lute "My Dentures Bring All the Boys to the Yard" Olson's only National Championship came in 1997 when the Wildcats finished fifth in the Pacific-10 Conference, the same place they find themselves this year. Also in '97, Mike Bibby won the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year award, something Chase Budinger has all but wrapped up.

3. Get the Stars the Ball. The two best players for Arizona are Marcus Williams and Chase Budinger, so it would make the most sense to get them the rock. When Williams or Budinger score more than 20 points, the Wildcats are 15-1 this season, with the only loss coming against Oregon by two. — Shane Bacon

PURDUE BOILERMAKERS

1. Turnaround. The Boilermakers reached the 20-win mark for the first time since the 2000 season. Their 11-game turnaround from last season's nine-win campaign is one of the five best in the nation. Furthermore, their RPI at the end of last season was 175; this year it's 47. (For a point of comparison, Michigan is 53 and Iowa is 85.) Purdue scored key wins over Virginia, Illinois, Michigan State and Indiana, but had bad losses to Indiana State and Minnesota. Purdue's 16 home wins is the most ever for a Purdue basketball team, yet they only won two games on the road; they also won two on neutral courts. Carl Landry was the first Purdue player ever to be Big Ten player of the week three consecutive weeks, and Chris Kramer set a Purdue record this year for steals by a freshman. It will continue; second-year coach Matt Painter is set to welcome the best recruiting class in the history of Purdue basketball. In fact, Painter will land four top-50 players in one class. Many seasons, longtime Coach Keady (famous for the combover) didn't have a single one. (In fact, the most noteworthy Keady class got an assistant coach "re-assigned" and put Purdue into NCAA probation.)

2. Who To Know. David Teague's shooter's eye clearly got better as the season progressed, to where he's now averaging 14.4 points and shooting 43 percent from 3-point range as the second option behind senior Carl Landry. Chris Lutz became a better defender each game as well, and made better offensive decisions that really helped Purdue as a team. Expectation here is that Teague and Landry will carry them through one round but in the second they'll lose by 10-15 to a team with legit big men.

3. Purdue's Recent Tourney History Is Checkered At Best. Purdue hasn't been in the Tourney since 2003, when they sneaked in as an 18-10 9-seed and then demolished LSU by 24 in the first round before succumbing to Texas in the round of 32. In 2000, the Boilers got Gene Keady as close to a Final Four as he ever got, needing only to beat a mediocre Wisconsin team in the Elite Eight (in their fourth meeting of the season). Naturally, they fell short. In 1996, Purdue won their third consecutive outright Big Ten regular season title, becoming just the second team to ever accomplish such a feat. They followed that up by coming the closest any No. 1 seed has ever come to losing to a No. 16 as Western Carolina's shot at the buzzer rattled out and the Boilers exhaled with a 73-71 clunker (and went on to lose in the second round). In 1994, Glenn Robinson led the Boilers to the Elite Eight, again bringing Keady one win from a Final Four only to be upended by Duke. We could go on forever reliving these good old times ... but Purdue's last Final Four was 1980. Enough said. — Boiled Sports

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2. Deja Vu? Lute "My Dentures Bring All the Boys to the Yard" Olson's only National Championship came in 1997 when the Wildcats finished fifth in the Pacific-10 Conference, the same place they find themselves this year. Also in '97, Mike Bibby won the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year award, something Chase Budinger has all but wrapped up.

3. Get the Stars the Ball. The two best players for Arizona are Marcus Williams and Chase Budinger, so it would make the most sense to get them the rock. When Williams or Budinger score more than 20 points, the Wildcats are 15-1 this season, with the only loss coming against Oregon by two. — Shane Bacon

These, friends, are the future of college basketball uniforms, and that future is: SPANDEX! OK, not quite Spandex, but there's certainly a skin-tight vibe going on for the four teams who will supposedly try out the new duds during their conference championships this week: Ohio State, Syracuse, Florida and Arizona. They say the shirts are "10 inches tighter," and boy, are we happy they didn't have these things when Robert Traylor was playing.

By the way, someone's gonna trip on those shorts.

Fashion Forwards [Style.com]

We never tired of goofy old team promotional songs, and here's a particularly good one, from a late-'80s Arizona Wildcats team. Ever wonder what Sean Elliot, Steve Kerr and Tom Tolbert would look like rapping? Here's your chance.

And maybe our eyes are deceiving us, but we think we saw Kenny Lofton in here. He did play for them, after all.

Arizona Wildcats College Basketball Rap [YouTube]

ARIZONA

1. The Other 'Stached Star. Freshman Marcus Williams, maybe the most underhyped freshman in the nation, sports his own version of the '70's porn-stache, a la Gonzaga's Adam Morrison, but for a very awkward reason. Supposedly — and this comes from a girlfriend of his from high school — he sports the semi-facial hair because he feels his baby face isn't tough enough during hoops games. Hey, you can't knock the kid for anything he does; he's second in scoring for the Wildcats and is shooting 44 percent from beyond the arc, best on the team.

2. Our Most Famous Cheerleader Is An Old Man. It might seem odd, but 54-year-old Joe Cavaleri gets the crowd more pumped than the hottest blonde. (OK, 54 isn't that old.) Cavaleri, better known as the "Ohh Ahh Man," has been getting Wildcat crowds excited since he started in 1979, stripping off his top-tier t-shirt and getting a chant of "Arizona" going. He might not have a huge rack or short-shorts, but the "Ohh Ahh Man" is one of the best traditions at the school.

3. Handcuffs Anyone? Since the year started, senior guard Hassan "Hot Sauce" Adams has got in more trouble than Lorena Bobbitt at a "Playgirl" shoot. (Yeah!) Adams has been arrested twice: once for disturbing the peace and the other for driving under the influence of alcohol. Plus, he showed up late to a team meeting before a loss against Houston earlier this year, benching him for most of the first half. Adams is the team leader in points, steals and citations. — Shane Bacon

WISCONSIN

1. Alando The Egg Hunter. Alando Tucker, one of the more prolific scorers in the Big Ten at 18.9 ppg, lists the Easter Bunny as the most famous person he has ever met. He is serious too.

2. ChippenDevins. The UW assistant director of athletic communications made sure to accompany preseason All-Big Ten player Alando Tucker to Big Ten media day in Chicago this year after preseason All Big Ten player Devin Harris drove by himself in 2003 and forgot his pants.

3. Bisonized. The Badgers were 68-3 at the Kohl Center under Bo Ryan heading into their January 21 meeting with the North Dakota State Bison, who were coming off a loss to Utah Valley State. Needless to say, after the game the Badgers were 68-4. The game will go down as the biggest upset in Badger Basketball history, no doubt. — Scott Cayo

Deadspin Printable Bracket (PDF) (JPG version)
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NCAA Tournament First Round Schedule [Deadspin]
Complete Deadspin First Round Matchup Previews [Deadspin]

2. Our Most Famous Cheerleader Is An Old Man. It might seem odd, but 54-year-old Joe Cavaleri gets the crowd more pumped than the hottest blonde. (OK, 54 isn't that old.) Cavaleri, better known as the "Ohh Ahh Man," has been getting Wildcat crowds excited since he started in 1979, stripping off his top-tier t-shirt and getting a chant of "Arizona" going. He might not have a huge rack or short-shorts, but the "Ohh Ahh Man" is one of the best traditions at the school.

3. Handcuffs Anyone? Since the year started, senior guard Hassan "Hot Sauce" Adams has got in more trouble than Lorena Bobbitt at a "Playgirl" shoot. (Yeah!) Adams has been arrested twice: once for disturbing the peace and the other for driving under the influence of alcohol. Plus, he showed up late to a team meeting before a loss against Houston earlier this year, benching him for most of the first half. Adams is the team leader in points, steals and citations. — Shane Bacon