– Tucsonan Mark Witten, a scientific researcher at the UA and owner of Witten Technologies, a biometrics firm, graduated from the University of Indiana and was the Hoosiers' women's track and field/cross country coach before moving to Tucson about 40 years ago. He is as amazed by Indiana's climb to the college football national championship game as anyone. "When I coached at Indiana," he remembers, "I would get two season tickets for basketball and two for football. I was often out of town due to my coaching duties so I would give my football tickets away. I had trouble finding anyone interested in the football tickets." Unreal. What the Hoosiers have done this season is comparable to dreaming that Arizona could someday pull off the same climb to the top of the college football world.
Indiana fans cheer after an interception was returned for a touchdown during the first half of the Peach Bowl playoff semifinal against Oregon, Jan. 9, 2026, in Atlanta.
– When Jason Gore was a golfer at Arizona, he won the 1993 and 1994 Pac-10 championships, one of just eight Wildcats to win the conference title. Now, Gore is the executive vice president and chief players officer on the PGA Tour. That means Gore is the person that PGA Tour golfers go to when they have an issue with the organization's politics and day to day operations. Can you imagine how overwhelmed Gore must have been last week when the Tour announced it was welcoming Brooks Koepka back from the LIV Tour? Golf.com reported that Gore handled the issue with sensitivity and a positive approach. It had to be more difficult than trying to make the cut at the U.S. Open.
– Former Arizona and Canyon del Oro High School football star Ka'Deem Carey announced his retirement from football last week. At 33, he will be an assistant coach for the Toronto Argonauts. It's sometimes amazing that Carey got through his football career in one piece. At CDO (539 rushes), Arizona (743 carries) and in the NFL and CFL (687 total carries), the UA's career rushing leader had 1,969 rushing attempts in his football lifespan, 2008-2025. He gained 14,298 yards. I always thought UA coach Rich Rodriguez overworked Carey, giving him 743 rushes in just three seasons but at least Carey survived to have a long career. In 2013, Carey led the NCAA in number of snaps by a running back. Here's an amazing statistic: Salpointe Catholic running back Bijan Robinson had 539 rushes in his Lancer career, the exact number of Carey at CDO. In his third season with the Atlanta Falcons this season, Robinson, twice an all-pro, has already had 801 carries. Fortunately, he hasn't suffered any serious injury.
– After No. 1 Arizona started the 2013-14 basketball season 21-0, it lost 60-58 at Cal on a corner jumper from Justin Cobbs with 0.9 seconds left. The Bears weren't ranked; they were 14-7 and had lost at home to ASU two days earlier. How did the Bears, an NIT team in ’14, end Arizona's 21-game winning streak? Arizona's best player, Nick Johnson, shot 1 for 14 from the field and starting forward Brandon Ashley broke his foot and scored just two points. That'll do it.
