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Opinion by Greg Hansen: Cats are No. 2 on bill of fare

Second-ranked Ducks are main course for ESPN
Opinion by Greg Hansen
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.13.2007
To produce and broadcast Thursday's Oregon-Arizona football game, ESPN will bring a work force of 70 to Tucson. Announcers, camera operators, electricians, gofers, Doug Flutie. Seventy people on the credentials list.
This is not UA-Wazzu on Fox Sports Net Arizona.
Arizona's role in this late-season coronation of the No. 2 Ducks is easily understood. The UA is the butler, opening the door for an honored guest. Make sure the place is clean, the stands are full and it doesn't rain.
"It's a crazy setting," UA senior cornerback Wilrey Fontenot said Monday. "Everybody's going to be watching because they want to see what Dennis Dixon can do.''
Dixon needs no introduction. The elusive Oregon quarterback is Mr. Heisman-in-waiting. The man who engraves the trophy should already be practicing his D's.
In Tucson, D has meant defeat. The Wildcats have gone 27-36 at home dating to the 1998 season. That's Duke football.
Those in this football-frustrated valley who have long wished for another Big Game in Tucson are mistaken if they think this is, in fact, a Big Game in Tucson.
Arizona last played host to a Big Game on Halloween night, 1998. It was No. 12 Oregon vs. No. 13 Arizona. The Wildcats won 38-3, and although you weren't there (only 44,931 attended) it propelled Arizona to its most successful season, 12-1.
After that, our football landscape has been scorched earth.
Since that '98 victory over Oregon, the Ducks have won 77 games. Arizona: 42.
To his credit, UO coach Mike Bellotti did not yawn Monday when asked the importance of Thursday's game.
"We've been on TV in some big games in each of the last two weeks,'' he said, an accurate reflection of the Ducks' victories over No. 11 USC and No. 9 Arizona State. "It's not anything new.''
When Bellotti left Tucson late at night on Oct. 31, 1998, outscored 28-0 in the second half, it was Arizona, not Oregon, that appeared poised to be a future Pac-10 powerhouse.
The defense-challenged Ducks of '98 yielded 51, 44, 41 and 38 points, collapsing, losing four games down the stretch.
Two months later, the ABC people phoned to invite Arizona to be a featured team in its 1999 season opener, at Penn State.
And then the teams switched identities.
In the eight seasons to follow, Oregon won seven of eight games against Arizona, outscoring the Wildcats by an average of 33-22. Forget the scores. Oregon has been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 in 81 weeks since last losing at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats have been ranked in the AP Top 25 seven weeks.
To his credit, UA coach Mike Stoops on Monday did not attempt to inflate his team's worthiness. Asked if he considered it the "biggest game'' he has coached here, Stoops paused for several seconds.
"I don't know,'' he said. "This will probably be the most-hyped because of (Oregon's) situation. I don't know if this is the biggest. … If we won, I guess it would be the biggest.''
Arizona has not earned co-billing on the national stage since the '99 opener at No. 3 Penn State. It was the last time Arizona was a Top 10 team (No. 4) while playing another. The 41-7 loss was a Humpty Dumpty Game; none of the four men who have since occupied the head coaching position have been able to put the pieces back together again.
But there would nonetheless be one more shot at Oregon in a Big Game.
The last time Arizona was ranked in the AP Top 25 it played, conveniently, at Oregon's Autzen Stadium. It was Oct. 21, 2000. Both teams were 5-1. Both had beaten USC. Arizona was ranked No. 21, Oregon No. 7.
Little did we know it was Arizona's last chance at the big time.
The morning of the game, the Eugene Register-Guard published a banner headline calling that day's game the most important in Autzen Stadium history. At stake: the Pac-10 lead and Oregon's 18-game home winning streak.
The Ducks won 14-10, in part because Arizona's three top offensive linemen, Bruce Wiggins, Makoa Freitas and Steven Grace, were injured and did not play.
Afterward, Bellotti said: "No question, Arizona is the best team we've played. In my opinion, we were a little bit better, but it's a pretty slim margin.''
Seems like 100 years ago.
Arizona lost five straight. Dick Tomey and his coaching staff were replaced. A year later, Oregon beat the Wildcats 63-28 in Tucson.
Now ESPN is coming to town to watch Dennis Dixon attempt to win a Heisman Trophy against a designated victim wearing blue helmets.
Not to be outdone by the Ducks or by anybody, it is the most important Arizona football game this century.
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