Cinderella of the desert? Why you should (and shouldn’t) root for Arizona

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Are the Wildcats underdogs?

Or a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

With 25 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, Arizona isn’t your prototypical Cinderella team. But with a double-digit seeding (12), it’s the closest thing we’ve got to lovable bums (it helps the visual that Chase Budinger has scruffy features). Purdue was the only other team to upset its way into the Sweet Sixteen -- if a No. 5 beating a No. 4 could really be considered an upset.

Some reasons to root for (or against) Arizona ...

FOR: Russ Pennell is the most unlikely coach to lead his team deep into the tournament. He was hired from archrival Arizona State, where his job was calling games on the radio. Twelve months ago, he had never held a head coaching gig. He still doesn’t, really -- Arizona technically considers him an ‘interim’ coach filling in until a suitable replacement can be found for Lute Olson. Maybe the university has already found one.

AGAINST: A lot of people feel St. Mary’s was slighted and more deserving than Arizona. Swap them out in the bracket, and how hard would it have been for a hot upstart to knock off Utah and Cleveland State? Mid-major boosters can’t be enjoying this run, and are probably bitter that a true Cinderella didn’t go far in the Big Dance.

FOR: Those same mid-major boosters were pretty whiny last week. This is their Pennel penance. So what if the Gaels (not to mention Creighton, Niagara and Charleston) had 26 wins before the tournament? Arizona had only 19, but that included seven straight in a strong Pac-10 and three over eventual conference champions which were seeded No. 4 or better (Washington, Gonzaga and Kansas). Don’t mess with the big boys unless you’ve got some experience.

AGAINST: Shouldn’t we all still be upset about last year’s tournament? You know, when Arizona slipped in ahead of Arizona State? The Sun Devils finished with a better record in the same conference, and beat the Wildcats. Twice. Will karma ever catch up?

FOR: The city of Tucson needs Wildcat basketball. Seriously -- there’s nothing else to do. It even lost its AAA baseball team recently. If Arizona doesn’t keep winning, there will be a million bored people wandering the desert town. Louisville needs to start getting ready for the Kentucky Derby right about now.

Pick your spin: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) predicted the Wildcats to make the Sweet Sixteen, but fall to Louisville. President Barack Obama had them out in the first round.

Pick your spin, Part II: Arizona is chasing North Carolina’s record of 27 consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament (27, from 1975-2001).

Pick your spin, Part III: The NCAA vacated the Wildcats’ 1999 tournament appearance, dropping their active streak to 10 -- behind Kansas (20), Duke (14), Michigan State (12), and Gonzaga, Texas and Wisconsin (11 each).

-- Adam Rose