SALT LAKE CITY - With Vermont delayed in Colorado on Tuesday and most of Wednesday, it will not affect the start time for its games against Arizona.

Delayed by 30 inches of snow in the Denver area, the Catamounts spent Tuesday night in a hotel.

Vermont is trying to make the best of a bad situation as it had an hour practice in Colorado Springs on Wednesday before their 7:30 p.m. flight.

It is still unsure if the Catamounts will have time to practice in the Huntsman Center before the game on Thursday.

When the NCAA decided Tuesday that no games would be cancelled because of the war in Iraq that doesn't mean that the UA players weren't thinking about the soldiers overseas.

With games starting on the same day that America could be dropping bombs in Iraq, many players think that the tournament provides a good distraction for the soldiers.

"It is kind of strange," sophomore Channing Frye said. "War is a serious thing and I think the NCAA did a good thing with keeping the tournament going. I feel like it gives the people of American another thing to get away from."

Senior Luke Walton agreed.

"All the troops that I have heard said that they want the games to go on and it keeps their minds off the war and gives them something to talk about," he said.

UA head coach Lute Olson wanted people to remember though that the NCAA Tournament is just fun and games and the war is the real world.

The Wildcats are back in familiar territory.

In the Huntsman Center on the campus of the University of Utah for the first time since a 66-59 loss to Wisconsin in 2000, players and coaches are trying to put that game behind them.

"Every year is a new experience," Olson said. "What happened has no affect on this years team. We have a number of freshmen that have never been involved."

Freshman Hassan Adams said the older players have yet to mention the Wisconsin loss and doesn't think playing in the same building with the same seed will cause any type of dŽjˆ vu.

Walk-on Fil Torres was not at practice on Wednesday, but Olson said he will be in uniform when UA takes on Vermont.

Torres has been battling the stomach flu.

The Wildcats practiced for an hour on Wednesday and just kind of got used to the surroundings for most of the time.

UA did have a 5-on-5 scrimmage at the end of the practice session with the starters taking on the bench players.

The Arizona player's seemed to take no time to adjust to the surroundings as they made most of their shots.

When UA athletic director Jim Livengood took the job as the head of the NCAA Tournament Committee he knew that he would be setting himself up for some harsh comments after the release of the brackets.

However, he could have never of compared to what has been said recently.

Bob Ryan, on ESPN's Around the Horn, said Livengood should resign for what has gone on with the brackets.

Most of the criticism against Livengood has come from putting Brigham Young - Livengood's alma mater - in a pod that would make them play on Sunday, a day of rest for the Mormon religion.

Other's question how much stronger the west bracket is compared to the other three.

Olson said every year there is a debate about the toughest bracket and there is no question the west is the toughest and the committee made sure that Livengood showed no favoritism towards Arizona.

With UA having four freshmen on its roster, playing in hostile environments is nothing new to most of them having played in areas in Kansas, Louisiana State, Oregon and Stanford among others.

"So far it's like playing in a high school tournament," said Andre Iguodala about the first day.

That should all change Thursday.