Maybe Arizona Basketball Is Not A Complete Disaster

Remember that whole thing about Arizona's basketball program turning into a Shakespearean tragedy? It seems those reports may be been greatly exaggerated by someone. (Okay, it was me.)

It probably seemed like I was picking on them a lot at the beginning of the season, but they kind of deserved it. Their coach left in a completely bizarre and slightly unprofessional way, his number one assistant turned down the job of running the team, his ex-wife started threatening people, and unsigned recruits started bolting left and right. Then they lost the second game of the season in a comically inept fashion. Things did not look good. But since then, they've rattled off six wins in seven games and knocked off No. 4 Gonzaga on Sunday. So bully for them! [Rivals/Yahoo]

They are currently at 7-2 with both losses coming by exactly one point. Not bad for a moving trainwreck. (It does help that they've only played one true road game, but maybe that's just what the doctor ordered.) Their next two are at UNLV and Kansas at home, so that will tell us a lot more, but putting up a respectable non-conference record and knocking off a top five team is a good start to keeping that tournament appearance streak alive—and maybe winning back some of those recruits.

Earlier on that same court, No. 20 Arizona State had to go to overtime to stop IUPUI, which I believe is a Dragonball Z character. The Wildcats draw Gonzaga, but the Sun Devils get IUPUI? That's quite a doubleheader showcase. [Rivals/Yahoo]