Tonight marks Arizona's 24th straight tournament appearance, the longest current streak in men's basketball and second to North Carolina's 27 consecutive tournament trips from 1975 to 2001. The last time the Wildcats spent March at home was the spring of 1984.

None of the current Arizona players were alive to see it.

Only two Wildcats -- fifth year senior center Kirk Walters and junior forward Mohamed Tangara -- were even born during before Arizona began its run of domination. When Lute Olson took the Wildcats to that first tournament back in 1985, Walters was a four-month-old in South Rapids, Mich., and Tangara -- the Wildcats' resident gray hair -- had just celebrated his sixth month in his native Mali).

The streak was in its infancy when sophomore star Chase Budinger was an infant, and by the time leading scorer Jerryd Bayless came along in August 1988, the Wildcats' had already made their first Final Four.

-- Harlan Goode