Wearing a navy blue Arizona Wildcats pullover, Sean Miller walked out of the west side of McKale Center Saturday afternoon, a book bag hanging over his shoulder after the UA’s nail-biting win over Eastern Washington.
As he walked, Miller ate a pretzel.
A few hundred yards away, the UA football team was putting the final touches on its preparation for Saturday night’s game against Colorado.
The eerily quiet scene was unlike any in recent UA history.
The Cherry Street parking structure was free to the public, but nowhere near full. The lot outside Arizona Stadium, which is usually blocked off for home football games, had plenty of spots available. Since UA students are finishing the fall semester remotely after Thanksgiving break, the Arizona campus was silent.
No tailgating, no fan activities. The only “Wildcat Walk” was being done by Miller, to his car. Besides the basketball coach and a fan who offered a word of congratulations, there wasn’t a soul within 200 feet in any direction.
Saturday marked another first. For the first time in exactly 50 years — to the day — Arizona’s football and basketball teams played home games on the same day. The last time the Wildcats aligned a home football and basketball game was on Dec. 5, 1970, when Arizona lost to rival Arizona State 10-6 in the Territorial Cup game while the UA hoops team beat Butler 108-92.
It’s not uncommon for the two programs to play on the same day. In fact, it’s happened 17 times.
The last time UA’s football and basketball teams played games on the same day was Nov. 26, 2015, when the Wildcats capped their 3-9 season with a win over ASU without attempting a pass in the second half. That day, Arizona’s basketball team fell in gut-wrenching fashion to Butler.
And who could forget Dec. 15, 2012? That day, Arizona rallied to beat Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl to give Rich Rodriguez his first postseason win with the Wildcats. Later that night, the eighth-ranked UA basketball team beat No. 5 Florida at McKale Center.
The UA sold T-shirts commemorating the day. There was a certain buzz on that December day in Tucson that hasn’t been captured since then.
Ordinarily, home football and basketball games on the same day would’ve given Arizona fans an excuse to spend nine or so hours at McKale Center and Arizona Stadium.
Instead, they were watching on TV.
