Arizona team not happy with NCAA tournament invitation

TUCSON, AZ — The University of Arizona basketball team experienced great disappointment on Selection Sunday, when they learned that they earned a tenth seed in the prestigious NCAA tournament and would be forced to face a red hot West Virginia team.

The Arizona players, who extended the school’s streak of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances to 24, did not seem to care about the continuation of Lute Olson’s legacy or the positive attention it will bring to the university. Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless articulated the team’s frustration.

“We were already sorting through the teams we knew would be in the NIT, deciding on which underachieving team we would most look forward to beating up on,” Bayless told SSNN. “But now that we’re entering the field of 65, that’s ruined. We were all playing Madden at Coach O’Neill’s house when we heard the announcement, and needless to say we were pretty pissed when they called our names.”

Forward Chase Budinger echoed this sentiment. “Man, we were really looking forward to throwing alley-oops over Southern Illinois, or seeing if we could beat Cleveland State with just our left hands. I mean maybe we could have doubled somebody’s score or something.”

Coach Kevin O’Neill, who filled in as Arizona’s head coach this season while Coach Olson took a leave of absence, was as surprised and disappointed as his players by their NCAA bid.

“I mean, we lost twice to Arizona State twice, we had a losing record in conference – what exactly do I have to do to get us into the NIT?” O’Neill wondered. “Now instead of having a shot at a tournament championship we’re gonna have to scrape and claw just to compete with West Virginia. This Joe Alexander guy is just lighting people up, we don’t want any part of that.”

Perhaps the biggest frustration for the team, however, is in what they’ll have to do before the game. Readying themselves for the NCAA Tournament will be considerably more difficult than NIT preparations would have been.

“Now that we’re in the big dance, we actually have to work on plays and run a semblance of an offense. That means we have to practice pretty hard, and study game film and stuff,” Budinger explained. “I’m going to be honest – I was going to try to play the NIT half-cocked. But now I feel like I have to be sober, because it’s on CBS and everything. Thanks a lot, selection committee.”