You might consider me positive. I'd say I'm positive in that Bruce Willis, "Die Hard With a Vengeance" way. Yeah, I'll never get down, but I will tell you that I have a bad f-ing headache the entire time I'm smiling.

That is why after the Wildcats sleepwalked through last weekend, appearing more vulnerable than a freshman consuming her fifth Jager-bomb, I walked away from the experience with my Shiner Bock half-full.

So here are five reasons not to give up on this year's men's basketball team so early in conference play.

5) Pre-season projections

Have you all looked past the Sports Illustrated cover that is still hanging on your dorm room by that last ounce of sticky tack? Somebody, somewhere in the deep cosmos of the sports world found strength outside of the team's kryptonite.

The Wildcats have all the ingredients on paper that allows most championship-caliber teams to advance deep in postseason play:

Seasoned veteran ready to take the reigns after important seniors migrate off to the pros? Check (Hassan Adams).

Important swingman that can give you solid minutes and average upper-single figures in points? Check (Jawann McClellan).

Inside presence, to some extent? Check (If you add up all the centers we have on the bench).

Outside shooter who isn't scared to pull up when he's open? Check (Chris Rodgers).

Point guard who finally steps up to exactly what head coach Lute Olson and the rest of Tucson was expecting in his first two years? Big check (Mustafa Shakur).

Fabulous freshman who continually makes his presence felt throughout the game? Check (Marcus Williams).

Hall of Fame Coach? Duh. Check.

Off-court distraction to take some of the pressure off the team on the court? Check, check, check, check and check.

4) The ghost of '97

This Wildcat team might be the most similar to that of the 1997 National Championship team and it is hardly talked about. Take a look at the starting roster if you really want to look deep in the comparison.

The guards of 1997, Miles Simon and Mike Bibby, were the most important players on the team, as are 2006 starting guards Mustafa Shakur and Hassan Adams. All four are the type of players (Mustafa included after his last five games) who could lead their teams in scoring, and all four are probably the most talented on the floor for the Wildcats.

Past that, you have Marcus Williams, who played a similar role to Michael Dickerson.

Then you have the Chicago Bulls' type of center. The 1997 starting center was A.J. Bramlett. A.J. Bramlett? Exactly. He is as well-known as the cast from "Saved By the Bell, The New Class."

Bramlett played a total of 62 of 80 minutes in the 1997 Final Four and totaled a whopping five points.

Sound familiar?

Plus, at this point in 1997, the Wildcats were 10-4 to our current 10-6, and they finished fifth in the Pacific 10 Conference.

3) The off-court x-factor

Sure, this might not seem like something you've read about before, but what is it about a player that has something happen to him outside of those two baskets to push him into another realm of sport?

This season, sophomore guard McClellan has that added push to get him to step up his game.

Hell, McClellan has two.

First, even if he doesn't say it, he has that motivation to go on the court and play for his father, who died this summer. If that isn't enough, don't you think the Houston native is a little pissed at the NCAA?

I mean, he goes home for his dad's funeral, comes back, can't get his head into studying (could you?), fails a summer class and the NCAA just brushes it off like he was out partying and skipping his finals?

I'm sure he has some added motivation to raise something to the rafters as the old NCAA suits look on.

2) Tangara!

I'm sorry, but I had to put in somewhere how much my face lights up when redshirt freshman Mohamed Tangara enters the game. It absolutely makes me giddy.

You could wallop me in the head with a 4-iron, run my leg over with an El Camino, kiss my girlfriend in front of me, and if Tangara entered the game, it would make up for it all.

How can you not love a 6-foot-9 forward from Bamako, Mali who hustles on every play, would elbow the entire cast of "Golden Girls" to get a rebound and is always smiling when he isn't playing?

The media guide describes him as "a warrior on the boards who takes pride in doing the little things," which just makes me like him more. Seriously.

1) It isn't over yet

I know it's probably the most annoying cliché of all time, but the fat lady has yet to sing, and that means that we have more basketball to play before the season is over.

We are lucky the Pac-10 isn't that strong this year, and we still have the opportunity to actually win this wacky conference. Look at the upcoming games.

If we can somehow sweep Stanford and California at home and then put ASU in their place like William Wallace did to Edward Longshanks in "Braveheart," we will be on a three-game winning streak heading into the most important non-conference game of the year.

If we can go to Chapel Hill with a 13-6 record and beat North Carolina on national television, it could do something for the rest of the Wildcats' season.

Remember, as psychotic as the Arizona basketball team has been over the first three months of the season, it is still a team that has the talent and depth to make a late run.

As most of you should know by now, it isn't how you do on that first test that defines your grade, it's the final that counts the most.

Shane Bacon is a journalism senior. He can be reached at sports@wildcat.arizona.edu.