SALT LAKE CITY - The Wildcats began the season with its sights set on bringing home their second national championship in school history.

With six wins needed to be crowned champs, the No. 1 seed Arizona men's basketball team will have a chance to cut it to five wins when it takes on 16th seed Vermont Thursday at 1:20 MST in Salt Lake City.

"We always have something to prove," senior forward Luke Walton. "Our main goal this season is to win a national championship. We want to prove to ourselves and the coaches that we are the best team in the country."

Vermont (21-11) has the odds stacked up against it as No. 1 seeds are 72-0 against 16th seeded teams since expanding to a 64-team bracket in 1985.

However, the Catamounts have been faced with another tough challenge.

Vermont is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament in its schools 103-year history and just arriving in Salt Lake City turned out to be a big obstacle.

With every team given a chance to practice 50 minutes on Wednesday, Vermont was stuck in Denver due to bad weather conditions that caused its flight to be canceled.

The Catamounts were forced to take a bus Wednesday night to Colorado Springs, Colo., where they held an hour practice and were expected to arrive into Salt Lake later that night after a 7 p.m. flight.

"It is going to be an exciting time for them," Walton said. "I'm sure that they are anxious to get here and play."

As a No. 1 seed, spectators at neutral sites seem to always like to see the underdog, but playing in front of a crowd that is against them is nothing new to Arizona.

"As a top team, neutral fans are always against you," Walton said. "They are going to be happy to be here and we have to prepared."

In the teams history, the Wildcats have not faced Vermont, but UA is 3-0 against teams from the American East Conference.

As a 16th seed, the Catamounts differ from most teams in their position as they have formidable size to match the Wildcats.

The smallest player in Vermont's starting lineup is 6-foot-4.

Defensively, the Wildcats big men will have the challenge of stopping sophomore big man Taylor Coppernath who averages 20. 2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

"They have a really big team," UA head coach Lute Olson said. "For a 16th seed they have a lot of size. It's amazing. I think we are a quicker team and we have to take advantage of that."

Facts about the UVM...

· Located just minutes from Lake Champlain, Burlington is 200 miles northwest of Boston and 100 miles southeast of Montreal
· A catamount - the team's mascot - is short for a mountain lion
· The Vermont Reggae festival is one of the biggest events in Burlington
· UVM has 7, 601 undergraduate students with most coming from Vermont
· Founded in 1791; fifth oldest university in New England