The Arizona men's basketball team is 80 minutes away from the Final Four, but also potentially 40 minutes away from being excused from the NCAA Tournament. Here are the notes from the team as they leave for the Mile-High City of Denver today.

McLean Deluxe: It's the same old story for senior forward Joe McLean, who will be matched up with KU's 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore Raef LaFrentz. For the 6-6, 217-pound McLean, LaFrentz is just another big body he's had to match up with this season, fo llowing Cincinnati's Danny Fortson, UCLA's Kris Johnson and Iowa's Jess Settles.

"I've had a bunch of big challenges, and this is the next one," said McLean, who has become something of a defensive stopper for Arizona. He has held the bigger players in check, although Settles had the most success with 13 points and 12 rebounds. "Every game could be my last."

McLean likened LaFrentz, who was 7-for-7 from the field in the first half against Santa Clara, to Washington's sophomore standout Mark Sanford, with the lone difference being that "LaFrentz is four inches taller."

"It's a little tougher against a left-hander (LaFrentz is a southpaw) because you don't usually play them," McLean said.

"You would think they'd have an advantage in size, but Kansas won't take that for granted," forward Corey Williams said. "On paper they look good, but Kansas won't take that for granted."

First round no more: By beating Valparaiso Friday, UA was able to exorcise memories of last year's first round loss to Miami (Ohio), and get over what has been a major hump for the program in the last four years. Arizona had lost three times in the first round in the last four years before this year's NCAA Tournament.

"As soon as that game ended (UA's 90-51 win over Valparaiso Friday in the first round), the pressure eased," point guard Reggie Geary said. "We can relax now and just play Arizona basketball."

It's attitude, not altitude: The last time Arizona played in Denver, against UNLV in the 1989 West Regional semifinal, the Wildcats had an oxygen tank on the sideline just in case the Mile-High City's altitude became a problem. UA lost that game 68-67, bu t are taking the same precautions this time around as well.

Despite the presence of the tanks, the team doesn't think the altitude will present a problem.

"What's the altitude in Lawrence (where Kansas in located)? Pretty near to sea level compared to the 2,000 feet here," Wildcat head coach Lute Olson said when comparing the problems the team would face. "I thought Reggie Geary had a great answer - there's altitude everywhere."

"If you make it a problem it will be a problem," forward Corey Williams said. "We only have to be out there for 40 minutes. Our guys can play anywhere for 40 minutes."

Olson did not rule out the tanks being helpful, however.

"We'll have the tanks, probably more for the coaches than the players," he said.

Superstitions are meaningless, knock on wood: When asked to compare himself to the superstitious Roy Williams, Olson said the only things he concerns himself with are the ties he wears for games. Those that he wears for games that the team loses, he said, are "reserved for other functions."

He did mention one other reason why he has no consistent, game day rituals.

"At my age you can't remember what you did yesterday anyway," the 61-year-old Olson said.

UA by the numbers: For those fans into statistics, here are a few numbers to think about for Friday's game. UA is 17-0 when they score 80 or more points € all six of Arizona's losses have come when they score in the 70-79 point range...All-time, UA is 14- 26 against teams from the Big Eight Conference... The Wildcats are 13-0 when sophomore forward Michael Dickerson scores 13 or more points this year.

Getting the bird: This from the UA sports information department, Arizona has yet to lose to a team that has a bird as its mascot this season. The Wildcats posted a pair of wins over the Oregon Ducks and then downed the Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday. The Kansas ma scot is the Jayhawks.