Wildcats need to hold serve at home...

In the Stands Report by Bookemdano: The Arizona Wildcats return home for a three-game stand at McKale Center. Last Thursday's loss to Washington in Seattle and Saturday's loss in Pullman to Washington State, dropped the Wildcats into a tie for second place in the Pac-10, one game behind the front-runner, California. The Wildcats (12-11, 6-5) need to hold serve on their home court and come away with wins over Oregon, Oregon State and Arizona State to have any chance of winning the conference. The Wildcats are in a good spot schedule wise with just one road trip remaining at California and Stanford in two weeks, before closing out the regular season at home the following week against UCLA and USC. Win all seven and they win the Pac-10. But first things first. The Ducks, the Beavers and the Sun Devils need to be sent home with their collective tails between their legs. Anything short of that will probably keep the Wildcats from winning the conference and qualifying for the NCAA tournament. You need a mathematician to figure out all the scenarios in the next few weeks with five teams (Arizona, USC, Arizona State,UCLA and Washington)currently tied for second place. The other four teams -- Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and Washington State -- are still within striking distance. Three games separate all ten teams! The Wildcats must take care of business at home. One slip up at home and the Arizona fans will be forced to start praying for a championship-run in the Pac-10 tournament. If it comes down to that...well, that could turn out to be a real pressure-cooker. Forget March Madness. We've got February Madness to contend with!