UA needs to win for sake of rivalry

Even an Arizona State fan can admit that over the past two decades, the Arizona/ASU basketball rivalry has been extraordinarily one-sided, with the Wildcats completely dominating the Sun Devils.

However, thinks appear to be changing, as the ASU program is now going in the right direction and Arizona is going in the wrong one. The Sun Devils swept U of A last year and have the better team this year.

Worse, Arizona’s team next year looks to be the worst one its had since 1982. ASU will drop off some, but not as much as Arizona is likely to.

That means that if ASU sweeps this year, as it will be favored to, the Wildcats could very well lose six games in a row to the Sun Devils. As any Arizona fan will tell you, that’s unacceptable.

For the sake of the rivalry, for the sake of Arizona fans’ sanity, U of A needs to beat ASU on Wednesday, and everything will be ok.

Jamelle Horne will be forgiven for two of the dumbest fouls anyone has ever seen.

Nic Wise will be forgiven for his ridiculous turnover towards the end of the ASU game.

Russ Pennell will be forgiven for coaching at ASU for so many years.

Jim Livengood will be..... nevermind, no he won’t.

This game is huge, and if Arizona has any desire of making the NCAA tournament, it had better hope it defeats ASU and prevent the Sun Devils from winning an unthinkable three straight games against the Wildcats.