Johnson tries to lead Cats to first Pac-10 win on Saturday

If the Wildcats want to climb out of the Pacific 10 Conference cellar, they better start tomorrow in Corvallis, Ore., against the Beavers.

Currently, Arizona (3-5, 0-4) is the only winless team in the Pac-10 and the Beavers could be the Wildcats' best remaining chance to get that first win.

"This is a must-win game," senior quarterback Jason Johnson said. "What our team needs is that actual victory ÷ no more moral victories. We need to win on the scoreboard. Once a team gets a win like that, especially on the road, it can give them a lot of momentum." [Read article]

The Arizona volleyball team is one-for-one in payback matches and it will have an opportunity this weekend to make it two-for-two as it plays host to Washington and Washington State.

Last week, UA defeated Arizona State 3-0, a match that avenged a loss they had suffered earlier in the season to the Sun Devils.

Arizona dominated ASU and showed that it has improved greatly since the beginning of the season. [Read article]

After months of speculation, the UA basketball team is ranked No. 1 in college basketball in the USA TODAY/ESPN preseason coaches poll released yesterday.

"I don't pay a lot of attention to (rankings), but we're not going to deflect that either," head coach Lute Olson said. "The reason the guys are here is because of the program, because they want to chance to win, and they want to play in big games." [Read article]

After sweeping intrastate rival Arizona State last weekend at the "Madhouse on Main," the Icecats hope to ride the momentum gained last weekend tonight and tomorrow.

The No. 10 Icecats will face Weber State tonight at 7:30 and Utah State tomorrow at the Tucson Convention Center before they play both No. 5 Delaware and No. 1 Penn State in the coming weeks.

"We anticipate that we can win every game that we play early on," head coach Leo Golembiewski said. "We are not looking past (Weber State and Utah State), but we are going to need to execute so that we can be sharp when we get to Penn State and Delaware in the upcoming weeks." [Read article]

All things come to an end, regardless of whether they are good or bad.

This weekend is the final home stand of the season for the Arizona soccer team (5-9-1, 0-5-0 Pacific 10 Conference), and for two players it is the last time in a UA jersey in front of a home crowd.

Seniors Naomi Chu and Tymarie Novak will play their last home games as Wildcats when they take the field against Washington (8-5-3, 3-1-1 Pac-10) tonight at 7 p.m. and Washington State (8-5-2, 2-1-2 Pac-10) Sunday at noon. [Read article]

Arizona baseball announced its 2003 schedule, and it includes three high-profile Texas teams along with the always-tough Pacific 10 Conference.

The Wildcats play all three prominent Texas teams , including NCAA defending champion Texas along with Texas A&M and Baylor, all perennially ranked teams.

"It's really exciting because I know a lot of guys on those teams since I played against them in high school and this summer," said freshman John Meloan, a Houston native. [Read article]

The Arizona Women's golf team will be competing in its final tournament of the fall this weekend at the Auburn Tiger-Derby Invitational in Auburn, Ala.

Arizona, currently ranked No. 3 by Golf Week magazine, will be facing some of the nation's best in teams in No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Vanderbilt and Duke, among others.

"A lot of the same teams at Auburn are teams we saw in the Fall Preview," said head coach Greg Allen about his team's season-opening win. "We'll get about a top-five finish." [Read article]

Pac-10 meet next up for cross-country

The UA men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Los Angeles for the Pacific 10 Conference Championships tomorrow.

The meet, held by UCLA at the Brookside Golf Course, will begin with the women's 6,000-meter race at 9:30 a.m., followed by the men's 8,000-meter race at 10:30 a.m.

The Wildcat women placed second and the men finished fourth at last year's meet. [Read article]

Arizona (3-5, 0-4)
Last week: Lost to Washington State 21-13
This week: Oregon State

The Wildcats' running attack reached rock bottom Saturday night, as the team rushed for negative 17 yards, the worst performance this season. But what's surprising to many is that the defense, considered to be the weak link on the team, put together its second straight strong performance and kept Arizona in the game. But in those same two games, the offense has struggled. [Read article]