James Harden was among the attendees in a near-sellout crowd watching Arizona State and Arizona tussle in Tempe last February.

The most important call of the football season may force Mike Hudnutt off the field. The Willow Canyon coach and his wife are expecting their third child in October. If the call to rush to the hospital comes during a game, the second-year coach said he won't hesitate to leave the field. "My wife and I have talked about it and I want to be there when my child is born," Hudnutt said. "I have confidence in my staff that the game will be in good hands if I have to leave. "Of course, my wife knows I might get a call from a coach in the delivery room, too." Hudnutt made a delivery of different sorts last year, bringing a new level of football respectability to the Surprise campus. The Wildcats went from 1-9 in their varsity debut in 2005 to 4-7 last season, including 3-2 in the final five games of the campaign. "I think the thing we have to guard against with some of our kids is that they were satisfied with the way we ended the season on a high note," Hudnutt said. "We've had to challenge them with our expectations and that is to win a state championship. "Nothing short of that will ever be our goal." The Wildcats make the move to a new classification this season, going from Class 4A Division 1 to Class 5A Division 2. The Wildcats will be in the Northwest Region along with Goldwater, Deer Valley, Boulder Creek, Kingman and district rival Valley Vista. "Deer Valley and Goldwater are teams that already have playoff experience, so they are the teams to beat," Hudnutt said. "But we feel it is a region where we can be competitive," Hudnutt said. The Wildcats have 25 lettermen returning in 2007. Among the most prominent returnees is junior running back BJ Scott, who led the team in touchdowns with 13 and gained 839 yards on 191 carries last season. "BJ is a guy who we want to get the ball into his hands as much as possible," Hudnutt said. "That may mean lining him up in certain formations to make sure that happens. "But we also have to make sure we have a solid offensive line in front of him." Hudnutt said his biggest preseason concern has been the offensive line, which must replace two starters from last year. The Wildcats must also find a new signal-caller to replace Troy Valdez, who graduated after throwing 12 touchdowns last season. The preseason competition has centered around 6-foot-1 junior Trey Clarida and 6-1 junior Justin Corrigan. "We're starting to see some separation between the two and it should become clearer as we get closer to the start of the season," Hudnutt said. Willow Canyon will open its season with a pair of road games before playing host to Ironwood Ridge in the non-region home opener on Sept. 14. The region opener is scheduled Oct. 5 at Boulder Creek.

TUCSON - Greg Allen has resigned as Arizona women's golf coach to take the same post at Vanderbilt, the Tucson university announced Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES — Kevin O'Neill returned to the college ranks Saturday when he was announced as Southern California's basketball coach, taking over from Tim Floyd.

TUCSON - The Arizona Wildcats have a shortage of defensive tackles, and there’s nothing the UA coaches or players can do about it.

TUCSON  •  The Arizona Wildcats vowed not to overlook woeful Washington, and they didn’t.

Hassan Adams is the stuff of Stanford nightmares. Long and athletic, Adams can break down experienced but slightly slower Cardinal wing players, turning any of their mistakes into easy fast-break layups or dunks.

PHILADELPHIA - He says the left shoulder is fine. That his head is clear, thanks to a forgiving set of coaches and teammates.

PHILADELPHIA - He says the left shoulder is fine. That his head is clear, thanks to a forgiving set of coaches and teammates.

While Arizona State rebuilds this season, the University of Arizona will contend for another NCAA basketball championship.

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Perhaps Arizona’s Desert Swarm defense was reborn at Stanford Stadium. Or more likely, the Cardinal are bad enough to make any defense look historically impressive.

While Arizona State rebuilds this season, the University of Arizona will contend for another NCAA basketball championship.

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Perhaps Arizona’s Desert Swarm defense was reborn at Stanford Stadium. Or more likely, the Cardinal are bad enough to make any defense look historically impressive.

TUCSON - When Washington State coach Dick Bennett announced his retirement this week, his team tried to come up with a memorable going-away present.

TUCSON - Frustrated by his team’s inability to run the ball through the first four games of the season, Arizona football coach Mike Stoops has decided to go young.

There’s never a good time for Arizona State to head down to Tucson to play a basketball game.

October 12, 2004

TUCSON - After what he described as a “very positive meeting” with Arizona coach Lute Olson, Kevin O’Neill had little to say about his plans on Tuesday.