Close not close enough for Stoops' Wildcats

Arizona football players don't frequently toss horseshoes after practice.

It's also not likely that many Wildcats have experience flinging hand-grenades.

Maybe they should start.

After the Wildcats' 9-7 loss at the hands of a deeper, more physical, and, well, simply better Wisconsin team Saturday, the consolation phrase "getting closer" was thrown around, seemingly at will. [Read article]

Throughout head coach Mike Stoops' entire football career, his job has revolved around defense.

He was a defensive back at Iowa. He's coached every defensive position from defensive end to running the defensive unit at Oklahoma last year.

So it should be no surprise through the first three games of his first head-coaching job, his team has been, well, downright defensive.

The Wildcats fell 9-7 to No. 20 Wisconsin Saturday afternoon, but like the rainbow that hung over Arizona Stadium following the game, the defensive unit was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary day. [Read article]

Baseball may be known as "America's pastime," but it's possible nothing brings sports fans together quite like football and the quintessential pregame activity: the tailgate.

"This is our first year tailgating, and it's wonderful," said political science senior Melissa McGee.

At the UA, football fans converge upon the Mall every Saturday for the campus' official, unofficial kickoff party.

Fans tailgate on the Mall as early as five hours before game time for $55per parking spot. [Read article]

It took a while for the Arizona soccer team to get going against Northern Arizona (2-3-1), but once it did, the Wildcats had little difficulty in getting their sixth win of the season, a 4-0 victory over the Lumberjacks to tie their entire win total from 2003.

Sluggish play from both sides dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, with neither team keeping possession of the ball for more than a pass or two. The Wildcats (6-1) still managed to create a few scoring opportunities in the opening 15 minutes but were unable to convert more than once. [Read article]

Timing is everything.

The No. 15 Arizona volleyball team (8-2) knows that all too well as it won the American University Classic championship, defeating American, Temple and Albany to extend its winning streak to six matches.

"I think out of the three tournaments (this season), this was probably the least competitive of the three," said UA head coach Dave Rubio. "But with the lineup changes, the timing was good. It was nice to win three without Meghan (Cumpston) or Kim (Glass). It is frustrating with Meghan and Kim out of the lineup. We're still not as smooth as we would like to be because we have to move people around and that's awkward for people sometimes." [Read article]

The Arizona women's golf team will be teeing it up this morning in their American debut at the NCAA Fall Preview, a tournament the team has played well at in the past.

The Wildcats are in their second tournament of the year after playing the Topy Cup in Tokyo where the team finished fourth after finding itself at the top of the leader board after the first day. The team showed what some think is going to define the Wildcats this year, having three different low scores each day from three different players. Head Coach Greg Allen said the team won't be relying on one player this year as opposed to the past when they would rely heavy on stars such as Erica Blasberg and Lorenna Ochoa. This year's squad has five players going out and playing as a team. "We've got five really solid players," Allen said. "Not many people think we'll do much because we don't have a superstar, but we have really good team chemistry." [Read article]

Cross country takes second in San Diego

The UA men's and women's cross country teams both finished second in the team standings at the 60th annual Aztec Invitational Saturday, hosted by San Diego State.

The Arizona women finished second to No. 20 Duke while barely edging No. 15 Northern Arizona, which finished third with 109 points.

On the men's side, the Wildcats placed second to NAU. The Wildcats finished just ahead of Southern Utah, who placed third. [Read article]