DALLAS - Even though the Arizona basketball team didn't return home to Tucson yesterday with the National Championship trophy, they deserve recognition for an incredible season. Given the trials they faced this season, the Wildcats deserve the award for "Comeback Team of the Year," even though such an accolade doesn't really exist.

Soap-operatic at times, the UA players made it to the program's fourth Final Four despite Bobbi Olson's death, a midseason coaching shift, two undeserved suspensions and a travel itinerary that would leave even Jules Verne panting.

The Wildcats began the season just as they ended it, playing their best basketball. UA opened their schedule in November by capturing the Maui Invitational title after defeating Illinois, a team they'd later meet in the NCAA Elite Eight. By winning without Loren Woods, who was on suspension for receiving "inappropriate gifts" from a former friend, Arizona fulfilled their preseason No. 1 expectations early.