Arizona-Buffalo pregame: Wildcats don't blame FBI investigation for Boise placement

BOISE, Idaho — There’s been speculation all week that the Arizona Wildcats were shipped to Boise because they are linked to the federal investigation into college basketball, but the Wildcats steered clear of that suggestion.

“I don’t think so,” forward Rawle Alkins said. “I don’t think the investigation has anything to do with seeding. But that’s just my opinion. I don’t know.”

On the interview podium with Alkins on Wednesday, Allonzo Trier said the Wildcats can’t be worried about where they’re seeded.

“We have to beat them, no matter who it is,” Trier said.

UA coach Sean Miller was asked if he felt the FBI investigation or just being in the West resulted in the Wildcats being given a worse seed than was expected by some.

“No,” he said. “I think the tournament selection has a difficult job. We’re a four seed. We’re in Boise. Excited to be in Boise.”

Predictably, there were a lot of questions asked about the FBI investigation and its effect on the Wildcats at Wednesday's interview sessions. Here’s the full transcripts of podium interviews from Miller, Alkins and Trier, as well as interviews from Buffalo coach Nate Oats and Kentucky players and John Calipari.

(You can also navigate through asapsports.com to find any podium interviews from the tournament. They're usually posted within a half-hour of the interview's end).

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Arizona opened as a nine-point favorite over Buffalo but the line has slipped to 8 or 8.5.

Former UA commit Shareef O'Neal says "everything is going to work out" with his future at UCLA.

The Pac-12 didn’t help its argument for better tournament seedings when ASU and UCLA lost First Four games but the conference is cruising along in the NIT so far, FWIW.

Oregon beat Rider 99-86, USC beat UNC Asheville without Chimezie Metu before just 1,614 fans at the Galen Center, Utah beat UC Davis after Larry Krystkowiak was tossed, Stanford beat BYU and Washington eliminated Boise State 77-74.

Meanwhile, Colorado's Tad Boyle is barely limping anymore, and Steve Alford appears to be safe even as the banners are flying overhead again.

We have a UA/NCAA-related special section running in Thursday's print edition (The e-edition can be found here) and the content is also being posted to our Wildcats page.